After a lengthy public hearing, the Boulder City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance setting the city’s minimum wage at $15.57 in 2025, making Boulder’s local minimum wage the lowest in the state. The final vote is scheduled for November.
The proposed minimum wage would be 8% higher than Colorado’s current minimum of $14.42, but falls short of other local minimum wages in the region, including those in Boulder County and Denver. The decision represents a blow to local regulators and safety net providers, who showed up in large numbers to the public hearing on Thursday, October 10, to demand higher wages.
Councilwoman Lauren Folkerts, who has been working with other local governments on the regional minimum wage, proposed an amendment to raise the city’s minimum wage to 15% above the state minimum — $16.58 — next year, with the goal of matching Denver’s wage by 2027. But It was narrowly voted down, 5-4, highlighting deep divisions over the wage increase. Supporters say the increase is necessary to help workers adjust to Boulder’s high costs of living, while opponents fear it could hurt small businesses already struggling to stay afloat.
“Wages have not kept up with the cost of living,” Folkerts told council members. “Business ownership is itself a privilege and cannot take precedence over the low-wage workers who form the backbone of this community.”
In addition to Folkerts, Mayor Aaron Brockett, Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Speer and Ryan Schuchard voted in favor of the failed 15% increase.
“The question before us of whether to raise the minimum wage and by how much is a matter of trade-offs,” Mayor Brockett said before the vote. “I would like to build on the idea of getting more money to those who are struggling to get by.”
Council members Matt Benjamin, Tara Weiner, Mark Wallach, Tina Marquez and Tayshia Adams opposed the 15% increase, and favored the 8% increase.
“You have restaurant owners, in particular, who have saved enough money just when a refrigerator breaks down. Well, that would negate all the money that was saved for those catastrophic types of events,” Councilman Benjamin said in his defense of the larger increase. We have to strike a balance.”
“We are asking small and micro businesses to make up for the failure of the state and the county to do what they need to do,” Councilman Weiner said, referring to recent cuts in safety net services by the county. Before the boycott. “I just don’t think it’s fair.”
Ultimately, after it became clear that 15% would not gain majority support, council members unanimously agreed to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15.57 in 2025, with 8% annual increases for two years, followed by adjustments tied to a price index. Consumer. . This means that Boulder’s minimum wage will likely remain much lower than its Denver counterpart in the coming years.
“The gold standard is not Denver,” Councilman Adams said. “They’re not moving to a living wage. So why would I pigeonhole myself into a losing strategy?”
The move to create a local minimum wage comes on the heels of a 2019 Colorado law that gave cities the power to set their own wages. Boulder is working with neighboring cities, including Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville and Erie, to coordinate a regional approach. However, Boulder is the only city moving forward with a formal ordinance, according to city officials.
To assess the potential impact of a higher minimum wage, municipalities surveyed 993 workers and commissioned ECOnorthwest, a public policy firm, to conduct a study. The study, released in July, found that minimum wage workers in the region tend to be younger, female, and disproportionately Latino, Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Jobs in retail, food service, childcare, agriculture, arts and entertainment are among the lowest-paying jobs in Boulder County. The report does not estimate how many workers in Boulder County earn the minimum wage. But nearly 10% of county workers earn less than $15 an hour, according to the report.
Some council members hope raising the minimum wage will help more people who work in Boulder afford to live in the city. As housing costs rose, most city workers were forced to commute from increasingly remote locations. During Thursday’s session, most residents who registered to speak urged the council to implement a 15% minimum wage increase for 2025. A food bank worker said she sees people working full-time who still rely on food stamps. One CU student said he could afford tuition or housing, but not both.
“The daily stories I hear from low-wage workers in our city break my heart,” said Mayor Pro Tem Speer. “The stories we heard tonight remind us that saying ‘no’ is not an option,” she added, referring to her support for the 15% wage increase before voting against it.
“I think we should also pay special attention to social workers and nonprofits who work with the most vulnerable members of our community,” Councilman Schuchard said. “They are asking us to move to the level of Denver and align with Boulder County.”
According to an EcoNorthwest analysis, raising the minimum wage to $25 by 2030 would reduce the region’s poverty rate by 0.2%. The impact on employment is less clear than on study. In Denver, which raised its minimum wage to $18.29 in January 2024, the unemployment rate fell more than similar cities during the same period, even as wages rose significantly, according to the report. However, the report notes that the effects of COVID-19 complicate any analysis of employment in Denver.
The study predicts that raising Boulder’s minimum wage to $25 by 2030 would result in a 1% decline in employment. Under the ordinance approved by the council, Boulder’s minimum wage will not reach $25 an hour by 2030.
At Thursday’s hearing, several business owners warned against raising the minimum wage, including the owners of SALT on Pearl Street, Big Red F Restaurant Group, T/Aco and Kilt Farm. They said profit margins are slim, and that because of the pooled tipping system, some workers actually earn more than minimum wage. One business owner warned that workers will lose their jobs as companies respond to increasing labor costs. Their message resonated with some council members who made economic vitality one of their top priorities earlier this year.
“Economic vitality is more than just a slogan or a buzzword,” Councilman Wallach said. “It has to be backed up by the actions you’re actually promoting.”
Council members agreed to place minors in their parents’ custody under the minimum wage law, even though state law allows for an exemption.
“I don’t want people under 18 to get paid differently,” Councilman Marquez said. But she said she was concerned that some young workers might lose their jobs due to rising labor costs. “I want to keep an eye on it, because they are the most vulnerable group in terms of employment.”
Under state law, local governments are prohibited from changing the statewide tip credit, which allows a reduction in the minimum wage for tipped workers. Cities can raise the minimum wage a maximum of 15% or $1.75 per year, whichever is greater. Boulder’s decision to raise it by 8% falls short of the level allowed under state law.
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