CITY OF SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

BILL NO. 2007-____

INTRODUCED BY:

AN ORDINANCE

AMENDING ARTICLE 28-1 SFCC 1987 REGARDING THE LIVING WAGE; REQUIRING ALL BUSINESS TO PAY A LIVING WAGE AND MAKING CHANGES REGARDING FUTURE INCREASES.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF SANTA FE:

Section 1. Section 28-1.2 SFCC 1987 (being Ord. #2002-13, §2 as amended) is amended to read:

28-1.2 Legislative Findings.

The governing body of the city has determined that:

A. The public welfare, health, safety and prosperity of Santa Fe require wages and benefits sufficient to ensure a decent and healthy life for workers and their families;

B. Many Santa Fe workers earn wages insufficient to support themselves and their families;

C. Many Santa Fe workers cannot participate in civic life or pursue educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities because they must work such long hours to meet their households' most basic needs;

D. Minimum wage laws promote the general welfare, health, safety and prosperity of Santa Fe by ensuring that workers can better support and care for their families through their own efforts and without financial governmental assistance;

E. The average earnings per job in Santa Fe County is twenty-three percent (23%) below the national average and the cost of living is eighteen percent (18%) higher than the national average;

F. Housing costs in Santa Fe are much higher than in most other parts of New Mexico, and low income workers must therefore spend a disproportionate percentage of their income sheltering themselves and their families;

G. Livable wages also benefit employers and the economy as a whole by improving employee performance, reducing employee turnover, lowering absenteeism, and thereby improving productivity and the quality of the services provided by employees;

H. When businesses do not pay a livable wage, the community bears the cost in the form of increased demand for taxpayer-funded social services including homeless shelters, soup kitchens and healthcare for the uninsured. Coupled with high real estate values, low wages reduce the ability of low- and moderate-income residents to access affordable housing. As a result, the city has had to invest significant tax dollars to support affordable housing including funding to nonprofit organizations, purchasing land, building infrastructure and waiving fees. In addition, the city has allocated significant tax dollars to operate after school and summer recreation programs and to support nonprofit organizations offering an array of human services and children and youth services, all of which are needed by very low-income residents and their families;

I. It is in the public interest to require [certain] employers benefiting from city actions and funding, and from the opportunity to do business in the city, to pay employees a minimum wage, a "living wage", adequate to meet the basic needs of living in Santa Fe;

J. According to the 2000 Census, approximately twelve and three-tenths percent (12.3%) of the Santa Fe community lives below the poverty level; and

K. According to the New Mexico department of labor, twenty-three and one-half percent (23.5%) of Santa Feans who are employed in the nongovernmental sector earn hourly wages of ten dollars and fifty cents ($10.50) per hour or less.

L. The governing body has reviewed the impact of previous minimum wage increases, relevant studies and other appropriate data, and finds that the city’s minimum wage should be upwardly adjusted each year to keep pace with increases in the cost of living.

M. The governing body has found that limiting coverage of the minimum wage just to businesses with twenty-five or more employees has hindered compliance and has created an uneven playing field among local businesses.

Section 2. Section 28-1.5 SFCC 1987 (being Ord. #2002-13, §5 as amended) is amended to read:

28-1.5 Minimum Wage Payment Requirements.

A. The following shall pay the minimum wage:

(1) The city of Santa Fe to all full-time permanent workers employed by the city. However, the provisions of this section are expressly limited by and subject to future union negotiations in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and subsequent appropriations by the governing body in compliance with the Bateman Act;

(2) Contractors for the city[, who employ more than twenty-five (25) workers] that have a contract requiring the performance of a service including construction services but excluding purchases of goods, shall pay the minimum wage to their workers and subcontractors performing work under the contract if the total contract amount with the city is, or by way of amendment becomes, equal to or greater than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.) [This provision shall not apply to leases of city real property or to contractors who are nonprofit organizations]; and

(3) Businesses receiving assistance relating to economic development in the form of grants, subsidies, loan guarantees or industrial revenue bonds in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.) to those employed by such entity for the duration of the city grant or subsidy; and

(4) Businesses required to have a business license or business registration from the city of Santa Fe [who, during any given month, have twenty-five (25) or more workers, or in the case of] and [not-for-profit] nonprofit organizations[, who have twenty-five (25) or more workers,] shall pay the minimum wage to their workers for all hours worked within the city of Santa Fe that month. For purposes of this paragraph, worker shall not include any person who is related by blood or by marriage to any person who may have or possess any ownership interest in the business that employs them. For purposes of [calculating the number of workers under this section and] identifying persons entitled to be paid the minimum wage, all individuals employed by or providing work to the business for compensation, whether on a part-time, full-time or temporary basis, during a given month shall be counted as a worker. This definition shall include contingent or contracted workers, and persons made available to work through the services of a temporary service, staffing or employment agency or similar entity. However, interns working for a business for academic credit in connection with a course of study at an accredited school, college or university or persons working for an accredited school, college or university while also attending that school, college or university, or persons working for a business in connection with a court-ordered community service program such as teen court or workers who are in an apprenticeship program in a 501C(3) organization (such as the Santa Fe Opera) shall not be counted as a worker for such purposes.

B. Beginning January 1, 2004, the minimum wage shall be an hourly rate of eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50). In computing the wage paid for purposes of determining compliance with the minimum wage, the value of health benefits and childcare shall be considered as an element of wages. On January 1, 2006, the minimum wage shall be increased to an hourly rate of nine dollars and fifty cents ($9.50). [On January 1, 2008, the minimum wage shall be increased to an hourly rate of ten dollars and fifty cents ($10.50).] Beginning January 1, 2009, and each year thereafter, the minimum wage shall be adjusted upward by an amount corresponding to the previous year's increase, if any, in the consumer price index for the western region for urban wage earners and clerical workers. [Proposed increases to the minimum wage after 2006, as set out in this ordinance, are advisory only and not self-executing and shall not come into effect until approved by ordinance of the governing body after review of the impact of previous minimum wage increases, relevant studies and any appropriate data.]

C. For workers who customarily receive more than one hundred dollars ($100.) 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.

D. Nonprofit organizations whose primary source of funds is from Medicaid waivers are exempt.

Section 3. This Ordinance shall become effective January 1, 2008.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

_________________________________

FRANK D. KATZ, CITY ATTORNEY

Jp/N/2007 bill/living wage