The pay for judges? (5)
I believe the answer is:
rates
'judges?' is the definition.
(rating is a kind of judging)
'the pay for' is the wordplay.
'the pay' becomes 'rate' (I've seen this in other clues).
'for' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'rate'+'s'='RATES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rates that I've seen before include "Local taxes on commercial property" , "(Old) property taxes" , "Local tax on property" , "List of charges" , "Relative speeds and local taxes" .)