The cost of living in Santa Fe creates a barrier for many employees wanting to work and live in the City Different. But, a long-time City ordinance ensures employers have to pay a living wage that outmatches the minimum wage in most cities throughout the state and country. This year minimum wage employees will see an increase of forty cents to $15.00 per hour starting March 1st for all employers within the city limits. The current minimum wage in the State of New Mexico is $12.00 per hour.

Mayor Alan Webber says, “This is a welcome increase, but it isn’t enough. We’ll continue to look for ways to make our living wage really a living wage and to enable people who work in Santa Fe to live in Santa Fe.”

Every year, on March 1st, the new living wage goes into effect. It is calculated based on the Consumer Price Index for the Western Region for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.  [EO1] The living wage applies to [EO2] employers within City limits. Some organizations are exempt, for example nonprofit organizations whose primary source of funds is from Medicaid waivers. This rate is significantly higher than the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Meanwhile, California has the highest state minimum wage at $16.00 per hour.

Director of the Office of Economic Development Johanna Nelson says, "Ensuring fair wages is essential to maintaining Santa Fe’s economic vitality.”

The City of Santa Fe’s living wage ordinance went into effect 17 years ago on January 1, 2008. The goal is to ensure a commitment to wages that keep pace with inflation, aiming to provide workers with a standard of living that meets basic needs in the City.

 [EO1] The City’s living wage ordinance does not include a separate wage for tipped employees. The tipped living wage part is only from the County’s ordinance.

Here is what our ordinance says about tipped employees:

28-1.5(C) For workers who customarily receive more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month in tips or commissions, any tips or commissions received and retained by a worker shall be counted as wages and credited towards satisfaction of the minimum wage provided that, for tipped workers, all tips received by such workers are retained by the workers, except that the pooling of tips among workers shall be permitted.

 [EO2] Some types of organizations are exempt, for example, nonprofit organizations whose primary source of funds is from Medicaid waivers.