2007 Bend WP Officials

LINKS: Bend Tournament ... Schedule ... Oregon HS Water Polo

Updated Sat, Feb 2, 2008. Questions? Contact me at "tuleya@yahoo.com"

2007 OWPOA Bill

The Bend-LaPine SD Water Polo Clubs have been overbilled. It should be:

Total Fees: Approxiamately $982.10 or $327.37 per school.

Game Fees: $660; Assigner Fee: $50.50; Treasurer Fee: $50.50;
Mileage Fee: $126.10; Hotel Bill: approxiamately $95.00

Explaination

On Aug 26th, OWPOA (Oregon Water Polo Officials Association) was contacted
to provide referees for the Bend Tournament. A reminder on Sept 19th said:
"Each Bend school should be billed equally for the refeee costs."

These teams did not hire OWPOA for the season. Therefore, the attempt
to collect seasonal payment is fraudulent. This link provides appropriate
billing information and an explaination of the issues involved.

OWPOA Billing Rates

Varsity Tournament (5-minute quarters) for 2 Officials: $27.50 each
Varsity Tournament (6-minute quarters) for 2 Officials: $30.50 each
Assigner Fee: $50.50, Per Schedule; Treasurer Fee: $50.50, Per Schedule
Tournament Mileage: Will be paid at $0.25 per mile roundtrip
Regular Mileage: 0.485 per mile (Mileage billed at IRS rate.)

The above is taken directly from the OWPOA's "2007 HS Billing Rates".
This information was handed out at the OHSWPC meeting on Aug 29th.
OWPOA website: www.reftown.com/Default.asp?Assoc=OWPOA
(* From this link, pull down the "Other Info" tab and click on "Documents")

Game Fees

All matches were 5 minute quarters with 2 officials (last game was cut short).
Therefore this cost should have been 12 x 2 x $27.50 = $660.00 ($220/school).

OWPOA mistakenly billed for 6 minutes quarters at $244 per school.
Each of the 3 schools has paid this amount, but expect a correction.

Commissioner Fees

As there was only one scheduled tournament of 12 games, each of these
fees should have been assessed only once for the entire tournament.
Assigner and Treasurer Fees: $50.50 + $50.50 = $101 ($33.67/school)

OWPOA billed each school each fee for each sex ($202.00 per school).
This works out to an unreasonable $50.50 for each tournament match.
This is a fraudulent way for OWPOA officials to make extra money.
Each of the schools paid this, but only as a temporary measure.

Mileage

Since only 2 officials worked the tournament, a regular rate is reasonable.
The idea of cheaper tournament mileage assumes multiple officials.
Bend official: 5 miles x 2 (round trip) x 2 days x 0.485 = $9.70 (at most)
Eugene official: 120 miles x 2 (round trip) x 0.485 = $116.40; Plus,
he estimates his hotel cost to have been approximately $95.00.
Maximum mileage costs: 9.70 + 116.40 + 95.00 = 221.10 ($73.70/school)

OWPOA billed the schools $270 each for mileage, but all withheld payment.
This works out to an unreasonable $67.50 for each tournament match.
This is a fraudulent attempt to bill beyond what can be legally justified.

The OWPOA billing invoices state: "Mileage is not based on a teams home
game schedule but is an average of all games played by all teams." This
is not stated in any official document other than this billing. However,
excessive charges happened last year too. OWPOA was hired only for this
tournament, and not for regular season games, to avoid these problems.

OWPOA's treasurer said this was approved by the OHSWPC Board. However,
the OHSWPC Rules & Regulations clearly states, under Related Organizations:
"The OWPOA sets its own fees." Plus, under OSAA's Approved Fees (Page 3),
OSAA states: Mileage for All Sports is "Set by local association and schools
not to exceed adopted OSAA mileage rate of $.485 cents/mile for 2007-2008.

Conflicts

Both the OHSWPC President and Executive Director have financial interests
with the OWPOA on this issue. Their opinion is a conflict of interest.

Conversely, Bend teams are non-varsity, self-funding with volunteer coaches.
OWPOA is attempting to fraudulently collect $179 per officiated game.
OWPOA needs to correct these bills and refund the schools' overpayment.