Maybe a stupid idea, but here I go :) Have you ever considered to crowd-fund bugfixing? (i.e.: getting money to pay somebody to do the work nobody else wants to do)
If money can be obtained from a crowdfunding campaign... is there any qualified person willing to do the job?
I know it's unfair to developers who already contributed for free, but as far as I know money is not the main motivation for hackers who persue the fun aspect of development (new features, challenges).
Maybe getting somebody paid to take care of the ugly stuff nobody wants to do is a fair balance and takes the stress out so regular contributors can focus on the fun stuff.
Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds: A qualified developer who knows the code enough and can meet the technical requirements is needed. And probably also a person willing to take care of the paperwork and administrative tasks. And people willing to review the patches...
Anyway, what do you think about this idea?
Gez.