BernCo joins cost-of-living wage increase push
The Bernalillo County Commission last week became the latest New Mexico governmental entity to approve a minimum wage cost-of-living increase this year.
The wage increase from $8.85 to $9.05 per hour, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2019, affects employees who work within the unincorporated area of the county, outside the city limits.
Both the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County voted to increase their minimum wage to $11.40. Those increases went into effect March 1. The hikes correspond to the annual increase in Consumer Price Index for the Western U.S. region.
That sounds like a lot of money, but before packing up to move to the state capital, consider this: a worker who makes a salary of $50,000 in Albuquerque would need to make $61,750 in Santa Fe to maintain the same standard of living, according to Sperling’s Best Places.
A minimum wage increase to $8.95 in the city of Albuquerque went into effect Jan. 1 of this year.
The federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, has not risen since 2009. New Mexico’s minimum wage at $7.50 an hour has also not changed since 2009.
The Bernalillo County ordinance, which took effect July 1, 2013, implemented two increases of 50-cent increments. On an annual basis since then, the ordinance requires that the commission at least consider whether to implement a cost-of-living increase that would become effective on Jan. 1 of the successive year. TRUMBULL IMPROVEMENTS: Residents of the Trumbull Village Neighborhood in Albuquerque’s International District will soon see sidewalk and roadway improvements courtesy of a $3.5 million federal grant.
During a Friday news conference with residents looking on, Mayor Tim Keller and Councilor Pat Davis announced details of projects funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“The Trumbull Village Neighborhood has been put on the back burners too long,” Keller said, “and being able to improve one of the most cultural and hardworking neighborhoods in the city should give all residents in that area a renewed sense of pride.”
Improvements will include increased and updated Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, new roadway asphalt, curb and gutter repairs, sidewalk and drive pad improvements, manhole adjustments and striping as needed.
The project boundaries are Zuni to the north, Southern to the south, Louisiana to the west, and Pennsylvania to the east. An additional $1 million of this grant is being used for neighborhood improvements citywide.
The future of the CDBG program is in doubt, however, as the Trump administration has asked for funding cuts for this and several programs in future. That concerns city leaders.
“I would love to see this permanently funded,” Davis said, “so that cities like ours can plan big projects with neighborhoods down the road. Today, we’re doing this year-by-year, grant-by-grant, and there’s an opportunity to do a lot more with it.”