Florida’s minimum wage climbs to $15 an hour next week, with the tipped-worker floor rising to nearly $12. The increase is the last scheduled jump under the 2020 constitutional amendment. After that, annual inflation adjustments take over.
Along Gulf Boulevard in Indian Rocks Beach, restaurant and shop owners say they have already spent years absorbing the earlier steps. They have raised menu prices, trimmed hours, and tried to squeeze more revenue from each customer.
Matthew Loder Sr., CEO of Crabby Bill’s Family Restaurants, which employs hundreds across Pinellas County, put a number on it. The company has spent an extra $450,000 on base wages since 2019. That figure does not include the extra payroll taxes, workers’ compensation premiums, and other costs that rise automatically with wages. Loder said the chain has reduced shifts to contain labor expense and is now betting that stronger customer experience can offset the rest.
“If we can convince more people to come because we’re a better value, we’re going to try that,” he said. He also worries that higher guaranteed pay will make some servers less focused on earning tips.
At Kooky Coconut, owner Joanne Inguaggiato has raised prices modestly while watching every other cost climb. “The employees, of course, love getting another raise. But we’re balancing cost of goods. Everything is going up,” she said. A high-school employee named Ella, who works three or four shifts a week at $14 now, called the coming bump “definitely exciting.”
University of South Florida economist Richard Smith noted that the statewide wage floor has risen about 75 percent since 2020, outpacing inflation. Entry-level workers have therefore seen real gains on paper. Businesses, however, still have to decide how to pay for those gains. Many have chosen higher prices and fewer hours rather than simply eating the cost.
Inguaggiato, whose shop has been open 20 years, said adaptation has become routine. “It’s just part of business… we’ll keep going.” Owners expect another increase next year once inflation indexing begins. The amount is not yet known, but the pattern of passing costs to customers and adjusting staffing is already established.
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