The Fiduciary Responsibilities Of The MTOA Board of Directors

This week the Board of Directors of the Metroplex Tennis Officials Associated unanimously voted to increase the pay scale for officials effective on January 1, 2015.  There will be those who applaud this decision and those who deride it.  There will be those who are grateful for the decision and those who think we have destroyed their future.  Its time to put hysterics aside and look at the thought processes that went into this decision.

First of all, the Board is directly responsible for setting the policies and pay scales for all officials who do USTA events in the Metroplex.  Here is the definition of fiduciary:

"A person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another."

Basically the Board of Directors are entrusted with the responsibility of making decisions that benefit our MTOA officials--and noone else and no other entity.  We are not responsible for the profit margins of tournaments and/or tournament directors since we have no accountability to them nor them to us.  We have no responsibility for the Texas Section since again we have no accountability to them nor them to us.  Our decisions are, and should be, based on the welfare and benefit of our fellow officials.

Here are some of the considerations that went into this decision:

*   How long has it been since we last raised rates?  It has been five years since our last rate increase.

*   How long do you wait before making the rate increase effective?  In the past, the MTOA has always given 6 months notice but the Board felt that a year's notice would be best.  This would enable tournaments and tournament directors to factor in the new rates.

*   What is the state of the local economy?  Obviously good enough to support a rate increase.

*   What about the price of gasoline?  You need to look no further than how much gas prices have risen since the last rate increase.

*   What about toll charges?  This has become a very relevant issue in the Metroplex and one only has to look at the local highways to see those charges will be rapidly multiplying.  For instance, to travel from north Dallas to Arlington costs $10 in tolls.

*   When do we raise rates again?  This was an integral factor in the decision to raise the rates to the level of $20/hour for the referees and $18/hour for the umpires.  The Board felt that with this increase we could go longer before the next increase.

*   What about officials that officiate for their sole source of income?  This should have no bearing on the decision.  Officials who depend on officiating as their sole source do not, and should not, be paid more or less.

*   What about those tournament directors who refuse to provide meals for officials?  This can, and should, factor into the decision to raise rates.  When the rates were raised five years ago there were a few tournament directors (along with the approval of three key referees) who retaliated against the officials by refusing to provide meals even though it had been standard policy since the inception of the MTOA. Basically this translates into about a 13% pay cut for an umpire based on the rates of five years ago.  (An umpire currently makes $15/hour and $90 for a six hour shift.  Meals and transportation to get them cost at least $12, so that translates into a pay cut when meals are not furnished.)

BTW, kudos to those tournaments and tournament directors who provide meals.  You are much appreciated.

There is always an ongoing discussion anytime there are pay increases--that's the history and nature of mankind.  Your Board of Directors did what we felt was our fiduciary responsibility for our members.