Yeah, having married into a Jewish family, this was a tough one for me. Economically, I get it (there are not the numbers to make the Temple stay afloat without a fee), but it is quite high ($2500 at ours in Raleigh). I can tell you that if you cannot afford the fee, they will usually cut you a break. Even some participation is huge when you think a Temple of 500 families averaging 2k in memberships annually is only $1 million/year to pay a couple of Rabbis, Cantors, staff, facilities, etc.
Our Temple got creative a couple of years back and rented out space to a fledgling church for a couple of years...very funny walking in there on a Sunday and hearing gospel music (I knid of liked it). It helped immensely with finances.