Several new laws took effect in 2020 that could directly impact Two River-area neighborhoods.
One such example: Following a bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed in February 2019, the minimum wage rose to $11 on Jan. 1, 2020.
When Murphy took office in 2018, the minimum wage was $8.60. He raised that to $10 in 2019 and set forth a $1 increase per year until the minimum wage reaches $15 in 2024. The minimum does not apply to all seasonal employees, agricultural workers or tipped workers.
According to Murphy’s office, seasonal employers with fewer than six employees must pay them $10.30 an hour. Seasonal employers and small businesses were given more time to reach the $15 minimum “in order to lessen the impact on their businesses,” according to Murphy’s office.
Agricultural and tipped workers follow a separate minimum wage timetable, the office said.
As of Jan. 1, 2020, about 192,000 New Jersey workers earn between $10 and $10.99 per hour, according to U.S. Census Bureau Monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) data, provided by Murphy’s office.
“New Jerseyans working full-time deserve fair, livable wages,” Murphy said in a statement.
Middletown Mayor Tony Perry said the township currently has 32 minimum wage employees, ranging from crossing guards to lifeguards and others. By the time the minimum wage reaches $15 an hour, Perry said it will have cost Middletown taxpayers $750,000 in total, about 1.5 percent of the township’s total budget in 2019.
“I’m not going to be the one that’s willing to cut a crossing guard because of these minimum wage increases,” said Perry.
He said the increases will force municipalities to decide to raise taxes or cut services to accommodate for the cost increase.
“When you increase minimum wage, you increase the cost that people don’t see,” like Social Security taxes, insurance costs, payroll taxes, and other costs, he said. “It’s something that we have to pay on our end.”
Theresa Casagrande, the borough administrator in Fair Haven, said the borough hires about 25 summer employees each year. The new wage will “most likely” have a slight impact on municipal budgeting, she said, but she has not looked at the numbers yet.
“Seasonally, minimum wage jobs are very important to the borough.” Seasonal employees do not get any additional benefits like health insurance or a pension, however. “They are still a very cost-effective employment option,” she said.
Michael F. Cerra, assistant executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said the organization would have preferred “a carve out for local governments or a more extended phase-in since municipalities were not previously subject to the wage,” he said. However, many local officials “conceptually support the increase,” even if they would have preferred it be implemented differently.
New Jersey is not alone in its pursuit to increase the minimum wage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, California is increasing its minimum wage yearly until it reaches $15 an hour in 2023. The minimum wage is already $15 an hour in New York City and it is currently $14 an hour in Washington, D.C.
This article was first published in the January 16 – 22, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
