Tax Increase

[drfrightner]

Is anyone following this tax increase proposal in congress? They want to raise minimum wage $2.10 an hour increase — from $5.15 to $7.25 over two years. If anytime you ever needed an association now is the time. I'm sure there are other very powerfull associations, business leaders and the like fighting this but if it goes through can you imagine paying your actors $7.25 per hour?

When you have a big event that will really add up quickly. I know from a personal standpoint, we'd have to raise our ticket prices for sure, and that would probably hurt our business.

I'm a republican, although I think I'm more of an independent, because I usually don't have a hard line opinion on a republican view over a democrat view, but I will tell you raising minimum wage is just all around bad for our nation.

Jobs already get shipped left and right overseas for one reasons... wages.

Who really makes minimum wage anyway... teenagers. I think this will have a huge impact on our business in the years to come. Everyone should write their congress people and tell them you're against this.

Whenever you raise wages, the people make say a dollar or two above minimum wage want a raise as well...most fast food places already pay more than $5.15, so now with a jump up to 7.25 they might want 10.25.

You might have people working for you making say... 8.00 an hour now everyone working under them are only making a few pennies less. Now they will want more as well, it just raises all labor not just the lowest paid.

This will hurt for sure...

I predict that every haunt will raise the ticket prices one or two dollars to compensate. Will our guests view our small indsutry of entertainment worth a ticket price of $17.00 for a small show or $25.00 for a bigger one?

Right now I'd peg our average ticket price at around $13.00 with many haunts making the push to $15.00. Very few are charging $18.00 or more but can you imagine even the smallest show raising prices to over $15.00?

Will people pay it? I doubt it!

This will increase costs on just one of my shows of over $15,000.00 or for both over $30,000.00. Thats a lot of money. But typically raising minimum wage just increases everything from services we use, to things we buy, so you won't just feel it from your labor but everything you use and buy.

Any thoughts?

Larry

[Jim Warfield]

Everything just goes up, doesn't it?
When I was a kid the steel companys were on strike for awhile. When the strike ended the price of steel went up $15.oo a ton (I think?)
My Dad was in the furnace business, a new furnace price went up $15.oo per furnace, but wait a minute, there was not a ton of steel in that furnace only about 270 pounds!??
My first lesson in trickle-down economics. The trickle gets added to by everyone on the way down.
In the mad scramble to financially remain viable the only people that get hurt are those on fixed incomes or those who are in Lah-lah land and aren't paying attention, which unfortunately are alot of people.

[Greg Chrise]

I've been paying $10 per hour all along for help. After taxes ends up being $14.31 Plus I buy everyone's lunches which turns out to be the only reason they show up to do grueling outdoor work. All along even McDonalds or Walmart have taken people from small business because the pay $9.75 plus provide medical insurance. Medical insurance becomes a deductional option out of their income. Only now are these products becomeing maybe available to small businesses. Many might be shams.

Our temporaries from a Temp Company make $8 and apparently we were near the top of the temp pay scale. At $8 it was $12.50 per hour, At $9 it somehow became $14.50 per hour.

So I will just have to have some line like if you wanna make $7.25 go get a minimum wage job or something. See if they buy ya lunch.

[Jim Warfield]

Just before anyone reading this runs down to apply for work with Gregg, Gregg, tell about the real beautiful people that you have had working for you over the years, you know what I mean, the "Drop-Dead" but not beautiful ones? They just forgot to remain "beautiful"?
Yes, children, this is all in code or else too unreal to be believed by the unenlightened, or just the absolute blackest of black humor attempted on my part.
Pick one.
Run with it.
Fall down?
Break that finger off in your nose.

[Greg Chrise]

Yes a few helpers have sort of died or ended up in commas but, I do buy lunch until you do die though. And our otherwise retirement benefit program is if someone goes down on the deck everyone else gets what ever is in their pockets. Of course they always think it will be my pockets they will be going through.

It gets a little hot here and we get paid by the square foot.

[Kevin Dells]

I've always understood that raising minimum wage balances out the rise in inflation.
Everything is getting more expensive these days, how do you keep up with inflation if your wage never goes up?

Larry, if everything in the nation is going up(example-movie tickets,bowling and consert tickets) Then why wouldn't a haunt follow suit.

Yeah it would be great to advertise our haunt for 2007 with 1999 prices, but i don't know one haunt owner willing to give up their profit for the benefit of a costumer having made a savings.
If it's a good show they will pay top prices. I visited a haunt this year and their attendeance was through the roof,four hour waits everynight. They also have what i thought was a rediculous ticket price(HIGH), but they still have the long lines. When i talked to the owner i said how can you charge that much.
He stated, the long lines made us have to work our butts off every night, open late every night well after 1 am and this was taking a toll on my actors. so i raised the price figuring my crowd would get smaller and we would make the same.
Wrong! Their crowd got bigger! (curiousity to see what was so great?)
He said he's thinking of raising it again.

[Brckee1]

Raising the minimum wage does not balance out inflation, it causes it. In the long run, it doesn't help anyone. Wages should be dictated by the market, not the government.
In NY, where my haunt is, the minimum wage is already nearly $7.00. Also, the state labor board no longer allows unpaid volunteers. With 35 to 40 actors a night, payroll is unreal.
My ticket price was $16.00 last season. Might have to go up again.
Jim H
Dark RAven Productions

[Jim Warfield]

There is a "Given" set in stone:"You can't just give extra money to stupid people because they will spend it!"
On silly things like buying their own groceries, paying their own light bill, some clothes that don't have holes and patches all over them, frivolous things like that, or maybe an extra gallon of over-priced gasoline, where does all that $ go anyway?
The world's richest people MUST be smarter and much better than we are, because they are rich, we can trust them to look out for us, they would never simply act out of greed or simple-minded politics to enrich themselves because, because, because, well it just wouldn't be "Nice" now would it?

[SomeThingInTheIce]

The Dems want to rise the minmum because Union pay is based on the minmum wage. Unions set their contracts like this "Starting wage is to be x number of dollers over the minmum" So when the Dems rise starting pay what they are doing is giving the Unions a rise for all the new union works. All it ends up doing is putting some low wage people out of work and not helping them or the small business owner. The Rep. wanted to add tax cuts to small business to off set the high wage and the Dems will not have anything to do with it. $7.25 is a lot to pay for someone for a scare, look at this way if you are charge $7.25 a ticket and have 30 actors the first 60 or so people every hour going through your haunt is going to pay roll.