Precisely. The point is to get the actual temperature. That has nothing to do with fudging. Talk about obtuse.
would the money be coming out of your pocket...?
This question makes no sense. What is the point of hiring pilots if they don't care about whether the company makes money or not? Presumably you care about whether you get paid or not.
Back to the topic at hand though. I think you will find that a thermometer housed in a stephenson's screen 4 feet above grass is going to be measurably cooler than the air above the runway. It is quite possible that the thermometer giving you the high readings is closer to the actual temperature at the runway than a more modern system.