After a lengthy public hearing, the Boulder City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance that would set a city minimum wage at $15.57 in 2025, making Boulder’s local minimum wage the lowest in the state. A 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 matching other local minimum wages in the region, including those in Boulder County and Denver. The decision is a blow to local organizers and safety net service providers, who turned out in large numbers to the public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 10, to call for a higher wage increase.
Councilmember Lauren Folkerts, who has been working with other local governments on a regional minimum wage, had 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, underscoring deep divisions over the wage hike. Supporters view the increase as necessary to help workers cope with Boulder’s rising cost of living, while opponents fear it could harm small businesses already struggling to stay afloat.
“Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living,” Folkerts told councilmembers. “Business ownership is itself a privilege and cannot take precedence over the low-wage workers who are the backbone of this community.”
In addition to Folkerts, voting in favor of the 15% increase that failed were Mayor Aaron Brockett, Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Speer and Ryan Schuchard.
“This question before us of raising the minimum wage and by how much is a question of tradeoffs,” Mayor Brockett said before the vote. “I would like to lean on the side of getting more money to those who are struggling to get by.”
Opposing the 15% increase and in favor of the 8% rise were Councilmembers Matt Benjamin, Tara Winer, Mark Wallach, Tina Marquis and Taishya Adams.
“You’ve got restaurant owners, in particular, who saved just enough money for when their freezer goes down. Well this would eliminate all of that saved money for those catastrophic types of events,” Councilmember Benjamin said in advocating against the larger increase. “We have to strike a balance.”
“We’re asking the small and the micro-businesses to make up for the failure of the state and the county to do what it had to do,” Councilmember Winer said, referring to recent cuts to safety net services by the county. “I just don’t think it’s fair.”
In the end, after it was clear the 15% wouldn’t receive majority support, councilmembers unanimously approved raising the city’s minimum wage to $15.57 in 2025, with annual increases of 8% for two years, followed by adjustments tied to the consumer price index. This means Boulder’s minimum wage is likely to remain well below Denver’s in the coming years.
“The gold standard is not Denver,” Councilmember Adams said. “They’re not moving to a living wage. So why am I tagging myself to a losing strategy?”
The move to create a local minimum wage follows a 2019 Colorado law that gave cities the authority to set their own wages. Boulder has been working with neighboring cities, including Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville and Erie, to coordinate a regional approach. However, Boulder is the only city moving ahead with a formal ordinance, according to city officials.
To assess the potential impact of a higher minimum wage, the municipalities surveyed 993 workers and commissioned a study by ECOnorthwest, a public policy firm. The study, released in July, found 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 recreation are among the lowest-paying in Boulder County. The report does not estimate how many workers in Boulder County earn minimum wage. But roughly 10% of the county’s workers earn less than $15 per hour, according to the report.
Some councilmembers hope raising the minimum wage will help more people who work in Boulder afford to live in the city. As housing costs have risen, most of the city’s workers have been forced to commute from increasingly distant locations. During Thursday’s hearing, most residents who signed up to speak urged the council to implement the higher15% minimum wage increase for 2025. A food bank worker said she sees people who work full-time and still rely on food stamps. A CU student said he can afford his tuition or housing, but not both.
“The everyday stories I hear from our city’s low wage workers break my heart,” Mayor Pro Tem Speer said. “The stories we’ve heard tonight remind us that saying ‘no’ isn’t an option,” she added, referencing her support for the 15% wage increase before it was voted down.
“I think we should also pay special attention to the social workers and the nonprofits who are working with our most vulnerable community members,” Councilmember Schuchard said. “They are telling us to move towards the Denver level and to align with Boulder County.”
According to the 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 from the study. In Denver, which raised its minimum wage to $18.29 in January 2024, the unemployment rate has fallen more than in comparable cities over the same period, even as wages rose significantly, according to the report. However, the report states that the effects of Covid-19 complicate any analysis on employment in Denver.
The study predicts that raising Boulder’s minimum wage to $25 by 2030 would result in a 1% drop in employment. Under the ordinance approved by the council, the minimum wage in Boulder would not reach $25 per hour by 2030.
At Thursday’s hearing, several business owners cautioned against raising the minimum wage, including the owners of SALT on Pearl Street, the Big Red F Restaurant Group, T/Aco and Kilt Farm. They said profit margins are thin and that, due to the pooled tipping system, some workers already earn more than minimum wage. One business owner warned workers will lose their jobs as businesses respond to increased labor costs. Their message resonated with some councilmembers who have made economic vitality one of their top priorities earlier this year.
“Economic vitality is more than a slogan or a buzzword,” Councilmember Wallach said. “It must be supported by actions that actually promote it.”
Councilmembers agreed to include 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 a different wage,” Councilmember Marquis said. But she said she was concerned some young workers may lose their jobs due to higher labor costs. “I want to monitor it, because they’re the most at-risk category for employment.”
Under state law, local governments are prohibited from altering the statewide tip credit, which allows for a reduced minimum wage for tipped workers. Cities can raise their minimum wage by a maximum of 15% or $1.75 annually, whichever is greater. Boulder’s decision to raise it 8% falls short of what is allowed under state law.
Now we’ll lose workers to the city’s that pay a higher wage, which will also affect businesses. A lose, lose decision!
$25/hr. for a year, assess for the benefit, then decide to go up. Costs need to be assessed to the developers to pay for it.
Glad to see boulder city council raising the minimum wage and not discriminating against minors due to their age! When Denver increased their minimum wage by 15%, Sales tax revenue grew 41% compared to neighbouring cities, and unemployment decreases by a larger margin than compared to both the state average and neighbouring cities (CDLE 2023 Report). Businesses did not fail, as often presupposed. This will only benefit our community and help local business in Boulder.
Conall, precisely my argument for $25/hr. and wait a year for the proof, rather than speculating on further increases in coming years. Isn’t the housing crisis and inflation foreboding enough given the longevity of the wage lag?
The one topic of conversation not covered here is the commercial leasing rates in Boulder. One of the reasons those profit margins are so low is because of the high rent costs in Boulder. Those Pearl Street restaurants are paying a premium lease rate. This means the landlords are hogging up those wages and holding it hostage. Again, the private real estate interests hold all the cards. I wonder what Boulder would do if none of the workers showed up to work one day?
Ricardo – this is exactly what I’ve been bringing to council’s attention for over a year now, and not one person has shown any concern. Council instead has made it a zero sum game between business owners and workers – and workers are considered expendable. Didn’t matter to the majority that our “essential workers” can’t meet their basic needs. Nor does it matter to anyone on council that our “economic vitality” policies turn a blind eye to private equity and corporate overlords putting the screws to small business owners by charging ever more exorbitant rents. We have so much churn in the restaurant business and so many good and popular businesses fail precisely because of unfettered corporate greed. And those in lock step with the Chamber of Commerce seem to think that’s fine, no problem there. Council can’t see the forest for the trees. (Yet, council thinks THEY deserve a big pay raise for all the learning they do. Reading all those emails can be exhausting, I’m sure. The idea for the pay raise was that with a higher wage provided we’d be able to attract and vote in some of those struggling baristas, and that THEY would be able to provide enlightened leadership?)
I think if Boulder really cared about small businesses, they would make it harder to buy them out. In my 29 years here I’ve seen more businesses close than stay open and they definitely didn’t close because the employees just cost too much money. How dare Boulder talk small business after tearing up the Hill and Pearl to make way for hotels and tech companies.
“oh it’s too expensive for businesses to pay rent AND their employees so I guess the employees have to suffer because we sure aren’t going to attempt to fix the real estate here”
Exactly. Council does nothing to make it fair or sustainable for small businesses to exist and thrive, let alone workers, then pits workers against owners in a struggle for survival. But, the Chamber and I’m sure various council members, are gung ho about attracting more high tech companies — which will exacerbate the cost of living crisis because AMI will continue to rise as the tech bros replace more of our small business owners. A big part of that is due to CU Boulder, but the lack of vision and action on the part of city council exacerbates the ill effects that trajectory has on our essential workers and small businesses.
The opposition from some in the business community is short-sighted. They are already having trouble hiring and retaining employees, who often drive from communities outside Boulder. Might as well work for a higher wage elsewhere.