Albuquerque mayor calls for minimum wage to be tied back to cost of living

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller is calling on the City Council to pass a bill that would tie minimum wage back to the cost of living without a proposed amendment that would lower tipped employee minimum wage.

“For some reason, trying to help those folks has all of a sudden been not basic and has gotten mired in all sorts of interesting politics,” Keller said at a news conference Thursday with City Councilors Nichole Rogers and Tammy Fiebelkorn. “We’re here today first and foremost to just take a step back and remind everyone what we’re trying to do with this ordinance.”

Albuquerque’s minimum wage has traditionally been higher than the state minimum, Keller said.

Existing city ordinance annually raises the city minimum wage based on the consumer price index. So when inflation raises prices, Albuquerque’s minimum wage automatically goes up. In 2024, the cost of living increase adjusted the city rate from $10.70 to $11.10.

But in recent years, the state of New Mexico raised the state minimum wage above Albuquerque’s minimum. Workers now are paid the higher of the two minimums, the $12 per hour state rate.

That means that Albuquerque workers no longer benefit from the cost of living increase built into local law. The minimum wage bill would raise the Albuquerque minimum wage to $12, matching the state minimum, so in future years workers can again benefit from cost of living increases.

“It ensures that Albuquerque continues to lead the way on minimum wage,” Keller said. “Whether it’s a traditional minimum wage or a tipped wage, Albuquerque should be at the higher end of our wage scale with respect to the state of New Mexico.”

The bill would also make it easier for Albuquerque to address wage violations.

“We have had cases of wage theft in our city,” said Rogers, the bill’s sponsor. “So for me, the point of this is to also strengthen enforcement, because we have folks who have been victims of wage theft.”

When the bill was brought to the Albuquerque City Council on Aug. 5, Councilor Renée Grout attempted to amend it so that the minimum wage for tipped employees would be lowered from $7.20 per hour to the state rate of $3.

The bill was deferred to the Aug. 19 council meeting on a 5-4 vote. Councilors Joaquin Baca, Brook Bassan, Klarissa Peña, Fiebelkorn and Rogers voted to defer, while Dan Champine, Grout, Dan Lewis and Louie Sanchez voted against a deferral.

A call to withdraw

Grout and Bassan have announced their support for withdrawing the minimum wage bill altogether, so that business owners and employees can be further consulted.

“The city’s current tipped minimum wage structure has created inequality in our restaurant workforce and hurt small businesses, and it’s just not sustainable,” Grout said in a statement. “The Minimum Wage Ordinance needs a thorough examination to make sure it’s working for employees and employers alike. I’m eager to hear from the community about how we can make this ordinance fair and equitable.”

The call to withdraw the bill marks a shift from Grout and Bassan’s previous stance.

Before the ordinance was deferred, Rogers tried and failed to withdraw the bill on a 5-4 vote. Rogers, Baca, Fiebelkorn and Peña voted for the withdrawal, while Bassan, Champine, Grout, Lewis and Sanchez voted against.

“We know it’s not OK to take wages away from workers, period. ... And the only reason I asked for a withdrawal is because that amendment came to take away pay from hardworking people, and I am not OK ever with doing that,” Rogers said Thursday.

She wants to see the minimum wage bill pass as introduced, without the amendment to lower tipped employee wages.

National conversation

Tipped employees have become part of a larger national conversation after both presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, made recent calls to eliminate federal income tax on tips.

Keller supports that idea.

“Right now, literally at City Council Monday, we’re fighting to raise minimum wage in Albuquerque, and we support federal efforts to keep money in the hands of workers that they can turn around and spend in their local community,” Keller said in a statement.