Louisiana Officials

[bisonlj]

Try to calculate a $5 raise for every official for every event. It will make $20k look like a very small number. Just for playoff games in our state a $5 increase would cost the state $50k across all sports. Add in regular season games and that number grows significantly.

[Nevadaref]

1. On a $50 game fee a 4% raise is $2.
2. NV has about 1500 officials in the entire state for all sports.
3. Say that there are 2,000 basketball games in a season. Perhaps half are 3-person. So $6 more per game for those and around $4 more for the 2-person contests. That's $10K. Of course, doing this for all sports will come out to much more than $20K, which is my point. The schools were happy to collude with the ED to stonewall the officials as it was well worth it to them to pay him a portion of what they should have been paying the officials. They saved a bunch of money and he made an extra $60K over three years. The La people better do some research and know what they are encountering.

[BatteryPowered]

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Ok...I realize that is a camp for a high school official. However, I officiate because I enjoy it. I don't want to do it as a volunteer but if I just cover my expenses for the season I am happy. In fact, I don't even track that to see if I even break even. The game fees I get just go into a vacation savings account. I try to hit one or two out-of-town camps each summer so my wife can tag along and veg by the pool and we make it a little weekend getaway.

I don't know...maybe I am just weird.

[Rich]

At some point the officials have to draw a line. They've been fighting for this for YEARS.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by Rich

At some point the officials have to draw a line. They've been fighting for this for YEARS.

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

[jpgc99]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

It looks like there was a similar situation in 2011:

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...le-strike.html

I'd like to know what has happened from 2011 to 2015 (if anything). At some point, they have to take a stand. The cost of most things increases over time, so a yearly raise is actually less of a "raise" but more keeping your earnings consistent when adjusting for the increase of costs.

To go one year, two years, maybe even three years without a pay increase doesn't seem like much, but at some point there has to be an increase or you are losing money.

[BatteryPowered]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

[jpgc99]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

If the money went to the teachers, I'd agree. But it doesn't.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Ok...I realize that is a camp for a high school official. However, I officiate because I enjoy it. I don't want to do it as a volunteer but if I just cover my expenses for the season I am happy. In fact, I don't even track that to see if I even break even. The game fees I get just go into a vacation savings account. I try to hit one or two out-of-town camps each summer so my wife can tag along and veg by the pool and we make it a little weekend getaway.

I don't know...maybe I am just weird.

Has the cost of basketballs gone up?

The coaches salary?

Admission fees?

Scorer's table costs (esp. if they are teachers at the school)?

Uniform costs?

So, the officials are paying for all of that?

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BatteryPowered

While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

[Texas Aggie]

Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season?

This "logic" can be used to 1) ask the same question for ANY amount -- unless it could be shown that x%, and not x-1 or x-.01, is the threshold; and 2) keep on accepting low pay indefinitely.

At SOME point, you have to take a stand and say, "I'm not interested in working at that rate."

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

That's football playoff rate for the highest classification.

Most of what is being discussed here are basketball pay rates, which are quite low compared to most areas.

Regular season football rates are ok, but not outstanding.

[Welpe]

Here are the basketball rates:

8.8.4 Basketball Officials’ Fees as adopted by the LHSAA in all classes:

1. Regular Season - Varsity Game (2 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……....... $45.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ………………......... $37.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ………………....... $35.00 per official, per game

2. Regular Season - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……............. $40.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official …………….….............. $32.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………................. $30.00 per official, per game

3. Playoff Games - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….…........ $65.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ……………........... $58.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………......... $52.00 per official, per game

4. The LHSAA shall pay each official $75.00 per game in the Ladies’ Top 28 Tournament and Boys’ Top 28 Tournament, plus travel pay.

Taken from here:

http://lhsaa.org/uploads/handbook/Se...ficiating1.pdf

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

We're talking basketball.

$35-$45 for a 2-person varsity game is just silly.

The amounts here in Oregon are $56.75 for smaller schools and and $63 for larger schools....about 50% more for the same job. Plus, we get mileage.

The post-season bump is $5.

We don't have 3-person yet, so I can't compare that.