Minimum Wage for SoWal???

[Kimmifunn]

Condos in Destin won't even rent to people under the age of 25. I'm sure Legacy on the Bay won't be too accommodating to four 18-20 year olds sharing an apartment. Trust me on this one.

Didn't even think of that. Well that narrows it down that much more...

 

[Smiling JOe]

Shelly, post #58 is well said and very true for people choosing to live in FWB, Destin, or Niceville, and for those living in Niceville, add $5 toll to the daily drive to work. When Freeport gets built out over the next 15 years, the same will hold true for anyone coming from north of the Bay. In the future, the same will also be true for people coming from PCB.

Knowing this, let's examine the issue of someone living in SoWal in the rental house costing $1300 per month, sharing the rent with one or two other people.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

But let's take a drive from FWB to SoWal to go to work, shall we??

1) Leave FWB drive through town (past lots of Help Wanted Signs)
2) Over the Brooks bridge down Okaloosa Island (past lots of Help Wanted Signs)
3) Drive through Destin (Past LOTS of help wanted signs)
4) Drive past Destin Commons (Past lots of help wanted signs)
5) Drive past Silvershells Outlet shops (Past lots of help wanted signs)
6) Drive farther down 98 (More help wanted signs)
7) Turn onto whichever street leading down to 30A
8) Arrive at work 1 to 1-1/2 hours later (depending on traffic)

Then doing the same thing in reverse at night?? 5 times a week!

Why on earth would someone travel 65 miles round trip and burn up 3 gallons of gas (@ $2.25 - $2.50), while bypassing NUMEROUS businesses offering up job opportunities with comparable wages to the same jobs being offered along 30A? What do the places in SoWal offer that places in Ft Walton and Destin don't? What can they offer that will make the person residing in FWB drive all that way 5 times a week in hot, humid, high-summer-season traffic?

Oh...I dunno....HIGHER WAGES maybe??

....And now that you've answered your own question, FOCUS and let's determine what that wage ought to be.

 

[beachmouse]

The jobs my employer is having problems filling because of housing costs advertise starting pay of $37-$45K per year, which is in the top 25% pay-wise for those kinds of jobs in the Southeast. Granted, these are different housing and living wage expectations that the service workers, but it's a problem that goes pretty far up the wage chain.

 

[Smiling JOe]

You are right BeachMouse, the problem does go up the chain. Who wants to be a manager in the service industry in SoWal when the same person could be an hourly staffer making more money without the responsibilties and headaches that come from not having staff? You would have to pay me $100K per year to take a management job like that down here, and you better not expect me to work more than 50 hours per week.

 

[SHELLY]

....And now that you've answered your own question, FOCUS and let's determine what that wage ought to be.

I think Joe is on the right track--the hourly wage for service workers should be based on living wages for the SoWal area--not commuting from cheaper housing areas.

There would be too high a premium that would have to be tacked on to encourage people to drive that far, in the heat, in the traffic, through areas closer to home where their skills are in high demand.

I think if businesses in SoWal want to fix this, they have 4 choices:

(1) Turn back the clock to a time before "low cost housing" was pushed out of the area

(2) Provide on-site housing for employees as part of their wages

(3) Start charging $35 for a grouper sandwich, cut their profit margin, and start paying employees enough to live in the SoWal area (with at least a 1-year binding employment contract).

(4) Open a family-run business.

 

[Uncle Timmy]

Knowing this, let's examine the issue of someone living in SoWal in the rental house costing $1300 per month, sharing the rent with one or two other people.

Let's assume two people splitting that rent, or $650 each per month.

If we agree with the previous data, ie that a person's housing should equate to no more than 30% of income.....

We arrive at $2,166 monthly income, $26,000 annual, or about $12-13/hour rate.

 

[beachmouse]

Add another $1-2K on top of that to pay for individual health insruance if the employer is not going to provide it.

 

[Smiling JOe]

monthly housing costs per person(all costs split evenly by two people):
rent - $650 ea ($1300 split by two people)
power - $50 ea
water/sewer - $60 ea
phone - $15 ea
cable/internet - $30 ea (many people consider this a requirement for living)
renter's insurance - $50 ea
----------------------------
-Totalling $855 per month per person.
-Using the 30% method of housing costs to salary/wages, ($855/.30) = $2850 per month per person.
- This equates to $665 per week per person, which breaks down to $16.63 per person, per hour, based on a 40 hr work week. This calculation is for the entry level service employee chosing to live in the lower rent rental homes in SoWal, and sharing the home with another person.
**************************************************
If someone wanted to live alone in SoWal in smaller home, he or she could expect rent to be cheaper, but will be carrying all of the expenses. I think he or she could expect the following monthly expenses:

rent - $1000
power - $80
water/sewer - $45
phone - $35
cable/internet - $30 (probably get nothing more than basic cable to save)
renter's insurance - $75
-----------------------
-Totalling $1265 per month per person.
-Using the 30% method of housing costs to salary/wages, ($1265/.30) = $4217 per month.
- This equates to $984 per week, which breaks down to $24.50 per hour based on a 40 hr work week.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As I mentioned before, this is a starting level. There are a limited number of rentals available at this price, and these examples given are the cheaper rents currently on the market.

Please keep in mind that we have not even calculated income taxes in this scenerio. These calculations are pre-taxed dollars, but we all know that taxes are deducted on every pay check in the real world.

Obviously, tipped employees could be okay with lower hourly pay from the employers as long as their tipped average wages were => those I mention.

I hope you guys remember this the next time you moan and groan about the prices of things at the beach. The entry level workers are the ones taking the hits so that other people can get the services they want.

I don't eat out all the time, I could never afford to do so, but if I cannot leave a fat tip, and I am not talking about 20%, I don't eat out. ;-)

Again, I am not saying we need a minimum wage of such numbers, just that if employers want to attract and keep employees, they should look closely at the numbers posted above to establish a minimum.

Presently, I am not about to calculate the salary needed for a mid-level manager who wants to buy the starter home, costing $300K in SoWal. If someone else wants to do so, be sure to include the cost of homeowner's insurance and taxes. The calculation is easy, but most of you will freak out when you see the minimum salary needed.

 

[florida girl]

I think Shelly has hit on a real problem here, however I don't think all the data is being shared. I'm not sure raising the minimum wage is the cure, but a patch on the symptom. If you go north, into the area where most of the workers live you will find the problem. A large percentage of the work force working for little more than minimum wage are not the children of the middle class, they are the sole wage earner for the family, often including the care of an elderly parent who is trying to survive on only their social security income. These jobs are great for the children of the middle class, but where is the middle class??? What is needed is an indepth study of what the largest employers actually pay ie the county in particular, as they set the standard often times with the rest of the employers in the county. I think you'll find that their wages are grieviously low. They are conserned about comparing themselves with the neighboring counties instead of doing their own research as to what Walton county needs are. Our county has broken the mold, and has too many variables. Look around at who is actually working at your neighborhood gas station, or the grocery store, or Walmart, or where ever it is you travel; they are not teenagers, or students, they are older people. Generally you think parents would be living on a retirement pension from the company they worked for, but do you see any company like that here? No. I sometimes think that the people that move here do so to get away from their children, knowing that the children can't afford to live here on the wages that are available. I feel the solution is to bring in larger more stable companies that pay a better wage. I don't think that there is an imediate fix, but things must start moving in that direction. As far as bringing in immigrants, as long as employers can do this and get government perks for it, wages and conditions will never be better for our people. They don't have to improve. Although you basically get what you pay for.