Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Regina Sandoval, a cashier at Taco Box in Clovis, prepares an iced tea during the Tuesday lunch rush. Taco Box is one of many small businesses that will see some impacts of minimum wage increases in the new year.
New Mexico's statewide minimum wage will increase by $1.50 on Friday, to $10.50 per hour. The tipped minimum wage will go up 20 cents to $2.55 per hour under legislation passed in 2019.
The timing, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled the state's economy, won't be welcome news for many small business owners, said Ernie Kos, executive director of the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce.
"I have concerns for some of our small businesses," Kos said. "I think absolutely it will have a (negative) impact, especially after all that's happened this year."
Kos said the Chamber's involvement in vetting applications for local businesses seeking relief through the federal Cares Act was "eye opening."
"A lot of our small businesses are hurting. This is the worst timing (for a minimum wage increase,)" she said.
Many local small business owners expressed concerns about the wage hike when the legislation was approved. But Tom Martin, who owns Taco Box in Clovis and Portales, has said he is not opposed.
When minimum wage goes up, he said business owners simply adjust -- by raising prices, cutting hours, finding ways to make employees more efficient and/or improving marketing.
Martin said he has 55 employees, and most of them have seen pay increases because of the legislation; some to meet the minimum standards, others because their skills warrant pay beyond the minimum.
This is the second of four annual minimum wage increases pushed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and approved by the Legislature.
The legislation calls for further minimum wage increases to $11.50 on Jan. 1, 2022, and to $12 on Jan. 1, 2023.
The New Mexico Minimum Wage Act in 2019 boosted the state minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $9 per hour Jan. 1 of this year, the first increase since January 2009.
The regular minimum wage does not apply in the city of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, the city of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County or the city of Las Cruces, all of which have higher base wages. But businesses in those areas with lower tipped wages will have to comply with the state law.
The city and county of Santa Fe each have a minimum wage of $12.10 per hour, but the city's tipped wage is just $2.35, while the county's is $3.62. The city and county each has increased its minimum wage annually on March based on the regional Consumer Price Index.
The Santa Fe New Mexican contributed to this report.
