What if athletic directors instituted a $50 player fee at the begining of each school year. That money could be set aside for officials at each game. You can handle any "Economic Hardships" as one offs. You can use gate fees for any short fall. Booster clubs could also contribute. $500 gos a long way in helping pay for officials. Coaches are allowed to do fund raisers. You have to take care of the game first before you make improvements. If umpires need a raise than fine, give them a 10% raise. Folks have plenty of excuses why things are wrong or can't get done. I feel like you are part of the problem or part of the solution. I'm not wild about everything the TSSAA does but they should not be the excuse for not having some sports. Look closely at AD's and administrators. Do you have quality solution based leadership guiding your student athletes?
$500.00 would pay for what....two home games? Out of 15-20 for some schools. I think it's a good idea, but that's not much of a dent in that cost.
I think umpires are well paid for what they are asked to do. If they were promised a raise and had it taken back, that would be unfair to them, of course. Regardless, I think people forget that alot of programs don't have the revenue generating streams that some of these machines do. If you can't raise the funds, or don't have the crowd, to pay the umpires, you end up playing a ton of games on the road.