[Vigilanteman]

It sounds to me like the barber shop is charging market rates for market services, at least on the surface. I never paid more than $15 for a haircut in my life, but I'm not one to purchase ordinary services in premium locations.

Still, I'm betting that there is far more to this story than meets the eye. If the Senate barbershop is running this size of a deficit for these types of prices, I'm betting that there is far more than traditional barbershop services being provided.

[HenryArmitage]

I guess all we are told from the article is -
280,409 in salary
230,000 in benefits
so a cost of 510,409 for four employees before any costs of running the shop are added.
Although in a slight defense I am told my salon working relation that licensed barbers are harder to find than licensed hair dressers, so maybe there is a premium in the demand?