Conformation Judges Annual Fee

[Elaine]

I imagine that most of you have seen this email by now... the AKC is going to start charging judges an annual fee. Judges who are Delegates are exempt from this fee. Here are some of the details... the full text of the email is linked below.

"The [AKC] Board reviewed the financial subsidies AKC makes to support the Events area annually. Fees assessed to clubs and exhibitors have reduced the subsidy by almost 30% to approximately ten million dollars each year. Approximately two million, three hundred thousand dollars of that subsidy relates to the Conformation Judging Operations Division. The Board considered a staff proposal to institute an annual judges' fee, which would be phased in over two years to reduce this Judging Operations subsidy by 20% in 2011 and 30% in 2012. As the AKC Bylaws prohibit Delegates from charging a judges' fee, Delegate Conformation judges will not be required to pay this fee. Also, Junior Showmanship only judges would not pay a fee."

Judges will be charged an annual maintenance fee of $50 and a $10 per breed per year fee, however in the first year (2011) the per breed fee will be reduced to $5. The initial billing will be sent out in early November of this year. (See a sample notice here.)



http://links.mkt2242.com/servlet/MailView?ms=Mjk5NTY4NgS2&r=MTc1ODg3MDIzMDMS1&j=ODg5MTI2NzAS1&mt=1&rt=0

[Elaine]

I’ve lost track of how many breed that AKC recognizes, but let’s say it’s something like 160... an All Breed Judge would pay something like $1,650 per year. Supposedly this would be tax deductible.

If you look around at our Group and All Breed Judges, the one thing they seem to have in common is that they are retired. Not sure if judges who are living on a fixed income can afford this expense. As an aside, I would guess that all of the AKC Board members (who voted to approve this) are judges…and, being Delegates, they are exempt from this fee. :cool:

I’ve heard it said that judges will just pass this fee along to the clubs, who will in turn pass it along to exhibitors. I suspect that will be true in the long term, but short term I think clubs will shy away from the more expensive judges. They already do… and this is just one more deterrent.

[doberdogsfd]

A few of the handlers were talking about it, couple of us owners did the same.

I would have loved to have ben a fly on the wall of the Judge's tent......

CB

[doberdogsfd]

I was just sent some very interesting info regarding the Judges Fee.

It appears that the AKC is withdrawling the current Motion and revisiting the current Judges' Fee structure.

The idea of the Fees remains and more then likely will not go away regardless, but the structure and specifics are being looked at for resturcturing. This time with a representative for the judges there.

That, in my humble opinion, makes a bit more sense, having everyone around the table to come an agreement.

Like it or not, this is a business and the AKC needs to generate money to continue to function.


This is going to get very interesting over the next couple of weeks I think!

Cheryl

[Elaine]

Before we get too far ahead of our selves on this topic it might be nice to back up to a few facts:

We all know that the AKC needs new sources of revenue. Income from registrations has been in free fall for about 20 years now.

One stray fact is that dog show superintendants like MBF (who make millions superintending dogs shows) pay the AKC a flat fee of something like $100 per year. So, conceivably, under this new Judges Fee, an individual All Breed judge would be paying many times more per year than MBF.

There are those who believe that judges should pay this fee, an opinion grounded in the fact that doctors and other professionals pay an annual licensing fee. In my opinion there are some parallels, but not many. For example, State Medical Licensing Boards actually provide services (to both the physicians and the public) for the fees they charge. These services relate directly to the doctors themselves and their competency to practice medicine. They do not use the fees charged to physicians to fund unrelated departments or run the equivilent of Agility Events or Conformation shows.

Truth is that the AKC Judges Operations Department is an utter mess. At the extreme high end, All Breed Judges would not be getting $1,500 service for their money. If the AKC had an efficient Judges Operations Department that provided quality services, then sure, at that point they could charge a fee… but the AKC is nowhere near that point yet.

Still, AKC needs revenue. And the truth is that Conformation and Performance people are not paying their own way (and never have). It costs the AKC more to put on Conformation and Performance events than they charge us as a portion of our entry fees. Many people in dogs are not aware that for decades we Conformation people benefited from income generated by high volume breeders/ puppy mills. But now that source of revenue is drying up. So, the AKC has come up with a plan to charge judges, who will in turn charge clubs, who will in turn charge exhibitors. How convoluted.

If the AKC has to up our fees, fine. I can accept that. But rather than going this sequitious route from the judges to the clubs to the exhibitors… why doesn’t the AKC go directly to the exhibitor and raise our fess? I don’t love the idea of paying more to show dogs, but frankly it’s about time we paid our own way, we’ve had a nearly free ride for decades.

[doberdogsfd]

I don't see anyone getting ahead of themselves....what I see is an organization attempting to make some dough and pay the bills.

I have very little opinion on it.
What I have are dogs to show. So, regardless of how the restructure comes out...we will all end up paying. No choice if you want to show dogs. It is what it is.

As I said before , the info given too me was pretty darn clear. I will not forward it, it is not meant to be.
I just thought everyone might find it interesting to know there is to be a restructure of what was passed with a rep from the judges present.

To me it is wholesale interesting and looks like we will see some more changes coming up.

I am not sure how entering shows at $30 a pop is a free ride...but ok.

Maybe the 200.00 I just paid for the next round of shows was Monopoly Money. :rolleyes:

Cheryl

[Elaine]

Sorry that I was not more clear, my comments were not directed to you Cheryl. I meant "we" in the broadest possible sense. It’s entirely possible that not everyone reading this has a background in what goes on at AKC. None of us on this forum are Staff or members of the Delegate body. I have spoken to judges and delegates about this, there are mixed feelings, but many feel it will drive a whole segment of our judges away (based solely upon their ability to pay this fee). Btw, I am not sure where this proposal came from, it can be very difficult to follow the governance of AKC from the outside looking in. To get some background on this, one might speak to Menaker or Gladstone. Those who are up in the NE will probably run in to one or the other at a show some time soon.

But Cheryl, here is a point that is responsive to what you wrote above. Regardless of how expensive entry fees are… the AKC only gets a small amount from each entry, and what they get does NOT cover the costs of the services they provide. So, regardless of what we pay in entry fees, we are not paying our way... and we need to. Personally I have always thought it was wrong that we conformation enthusiasts were being carried on the backs of puppy mill / high volume breeders, and that has been true for well over twenty years, maybe even longer.

[doberdogsfd]

Thanks for clarifying...now I get where you are going and I agree that the Supers need to pony up!


CB

[Minaz Cassum]

Are Conformation judges paid for assignments? Do they get a fee, travel expenses, hospitality, what???

[Elaine]

Some are and some aren’t. Most all judges get expenses, except provisional judges (which is why so many clubs use provisional judges, they are dirt cheap for the club, though they can be as annoying as all hell for serous exhibitors). At the high end, some judges charge a fee per dog…that can be as high as $4 + or -, plus all expenses, including first class air fare, taxi service from their home to the airport, airport parking, meals, their pet care for the dogs they’ve left at home, even their dry cleaning. Judges are allowed to judge 175 dogs per day, so it adds up to a chunk of change and can get pretty pricey. Judges that are AKC delegates can not charge a fee. (i.e fee charging judges can not be AKC delegates), so Judges that are Delegates are usually a good value for a club because the club only has to pay expenses. Arguably the most knowledgeable judges in dogs charge a fee, and in my opinion, they're worth every penny.