BBER Fact Sheet, September, 2007

A September, 2007 Preliminary Analysis of Santa Fe’s $9.50 living wage has been done by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UNM. The following are direct quotes from the Executive Summary. For the full Summary, go to www.santafelivingwage.org.

· The Santa Fe economy has generally been performing very well and, indeed, possibly better than the state as a whole.

· Santa Fe’s unemployment rate has fallen since the $8.50 minimum wage went into effect in 2004 and also since the $9.50 wage went into effect in 2006.

· The living wage is not a significant factor in determining whether a company hires or fires employees.

· Overall from this data, we can detect no disinclination to invest in Santa Fe because of the living wage.

· With some important exceptions that appear to be unrelated, since the initial implementation of the Living Wage Ordinance, the City’s taxable gross receipts have risen in each quarter year-over-year.

· In terms of the hospitality industry, growth in revenues from the City’s 4% lodgers tax has been relatively strong year over year since the first quarter of 2006.

· Youth employment has continued to increase in all age cohorts – those 14-18, those 19-21 and those 22-24.

· BBER staff were again unable to substantiate concerns that the living wage provides a powerful incentive for students to drop-out of school.

A September survey by the Santa Fe Public Schools confirms the BBER finding on the drop-out rate. Of 95 students who left school, the survey found that only 4 “left to work.”