City of Flagstaff Announces Minimum Wage for 2023

FLAGSTAFF — The minimum wage in the City of Flagstaff willincrease to $16.80 beginning on January 1, 2023.

On November 8, 2016 the voters of Flagstaff wrote and passed The Minimum Wage Act (“the Act”) as a citizen’s initiative (Proposition 414). The Act,which is codified in Title 15 of the Flagstaff City Code, prescribes thatbeginning in 2023, the Flagstaff minimum wage shall be increased annually bythe increase in the cost of living. Pursuant to the Act, “[t]he increase in thecost of living shall be measured by the percentage increase as of August ofthe immediately preceding year over the level as of August of the previousyear of the consumer price index (all urban consumers, U.S. city average forall items)” (15-01-001-0003(B)). The increase shall be rounded to the nearest $0.05.

On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released theconsumer price index (CPI) numbers for August of 2022. The CPI forAugust 2022 (296.171) was 8.3% greater than for August 2021 (273.567).Accordingly, as of January 1, 2023, the minimum wage in the City ofFlagstaff will increase from $15.50 per hour to $16.80 per hour.

The Flagstaff minimum wage applies to all employees who work or areexpected to work at least 25 hours within the city limits in a single calendaryear. For provisions of the Act pertaining to tipped employees, please referto section 15-01-001-0003(E) of the Flagstaff City Code.

The Act is enforced by the Flagstaff Office of Labor Standards. Previouslyenacted provisions of Title 15 will remain in effect. These includerequirements that employers maintain payroll records for a period of 4 years,allow the Office of Labor Standards to review these records to monitorcompliance, and do not retaliate in any way against employees for assertingtheir rights under this law.

For any questions or inquiries regarding the Flagstaff Minimum Wage, pleaseContact Chris W. Rhode, Management Analyst, at LaborStandards@flagstaffaz.gov or 928-213-2078. Additional informationand resources can also be found at flagstaff.az.gov/MinWage