On Ask Ubuntu we have a very small minority of users who occasionally flag answers where the content might be technically incorrect (a wrong assumption, syntax error, etc), or it needs an small amount of editing to really work. These are cases where removing the post is not the desired final outcome.

They should be commenting to let the user know there's a problem, voting to add urgency and rank the questions properly or just editing to fix the problems in the post.

###Flags make it too cheap and easy to push quality issues off to 10ks and mods!

So with the exception of the super-important flags {spam, offensive}, can I suggest:

1. We "charge" 5 reputation for each flags when the flag is created.
2. If a mod agrees, or otherwise finds it helpful, the flagger gets their reputation back. Maybe a +2 bonus (like suggested edits) to reward positive flagging behaviour?
3. If it's a lazy junk flag (and a moderator thinks it's a lazy flag), reject their flag with prejudice, keeping the rep they fronted.

This sounds adversarial but I don't think this is something most of our flagging users would mind. They can afford it. And it would certainly underline the "stop flagging rubbish like this" reject reason.

Additionally, the flag dialogue could include a "CC and downvote" this answer checkbox to highlight the need to tell the poster of a problem before it goes to moderators.

And edits should be rewarded for all users. Doesn't have to be reputation. Just a prominent count of edits that you could rank users by would help keep people interested in doing the tough stuff.