The City of Las Cruces Minimum Wage Ordinance will increase on Jan. 1, 2021, to $10.50 an hour. The hourly wage for tipped employees will be $4.20 an hour, plus any reported tipped wages.
The City’s minimum wage will follow the state of New Mexico’s minimum wage, which will change to $10.50 an hour. The City’s new minimum wage will increase from $10.25 an hour. The new minimum wage for tipped employees will be an increase of 10 cents an hour from what they earned in 2020.
A tipped employee is an employee who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a week in tips. Only tips actually retained and reported as income to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) purposes by an employee shall be considered tips.
During a Special Meeting in September, the Las Cruces City Council accepted the state’s minimum wage increase to $10.50 an hour. However, the Council opted to retain the City’s ordinance regarding tipped wages. According to the Las Cruces Municipal Code, the minimum wage for tipped employees will increase to an amount equal to 40 percent of the hourly wage.
City Council has recognized the negative impact on restaurants and small businesses caused by COVID-19.. To try to minimize negative economic impacts to Las Cruces restaurants and businesses, the council has lowered the annual business registration fee in 2021 to $5.
Information about Las Cruces’ 2021 minimum wage is available online at this link.