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Santa Fe’s living wage ordinance has increased unemployment, decreased worker-hours and hurt job prospects for young people, according to a report prepared by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber wants Santa Fe’s mandated minimum wage — set to rise to from $10.29 to $10.51 on March 1 through an annual cost-of-living increase — frozen for three years while its effects on the local economy, employment, businesses and more are studied. Beyond that, it says, the City Council should decide each year if the wage will go up.
Any such increases, it added, raise the price of goods and services, leading to a higher cost of living.
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss said he won’t consider freezing the wage. He said that Santa Fe experienced job growth every month for over a year, including an increase of 700 jobs last year, while other metropolitan areas in New Mexico have seen job losses.
The living wage ordinance was approved by the Santa Fe City Council in 2003 and enacted in 2004 with an hourly wage of $8.50. A provision for regular increases would have increased the rate to $10.50 by 2008.
However, after negotiations with the business community, the City Council axed the planned increase to $10.50 and replaced it with an annual cost-of-living adjustment.
Santa Fe has the second highest mandated minimum wage in the country, behind San Francisco.
I’ll have a longer story in tomorrow’s paper. In the meantime, you can read the report for yourself.
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