[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Boulder Self Sufficiency Coalition Proposal

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Weaver, Sam

Fellow Council Members and Hotline Followers,

We received an excellent summary in our agenda packet for Tuesday of our options regarding paying wages which meet a Self-Sufficiency Standard, also commonly known as a Living Wage.  Staff gave us great background, including the recommendations of the Boulder Self Sufficiency Coalition.  However, in the options provided, we were given the financial analysis for only two cases among the part-time employee groups and contractor groups studied:


1)      Raise the hourly pay rate to $14.02, consistent with the current guidelines in Resolution 926

2)      Raise the hourly pay rate to $17.97, consistent with the current guidelines for a family of four from the Colorado Center on Law and Policy

It was very informative to read about the financial impacts to the City so that the proper budget planning can be done for whichever course forward that Council elects.  However, there was one additional pay rate suggested that was between the two pay rates analyzed that I would like us to consider.  That was the recommendation, mentioned in the memo but not analyzed, of an hourly rate of $15.67 as suggested by the Boulder Self Sufficiency Coalition.  The rationale for this pay rate is that it is between the levels needed for a single individual living alone, and the level required for a two-parent family of four.  I was curious what the financial impacts of that middle rate would be, and rather than asking for more work from staff, I made some estimates based on the higher and lower wage rate fiscal impacts as reported in the memo.  Here are my findings:

Current Part-time and Temporary Employees:

By executive action, the City Manager has raised pay rates for these employees to a minimum of $14.02 per hour.  Below are different pay rates and fiscal impacts for such policy changes as we may consider:

$14.02 per hour                $171,800 annual additional cost, already incurred (per memo)
$15.67 per hour                $346,450 annual additional cost, $171,800 already incurred, $174,650 additional (my extrapolation)
$17.97 per hour                $643,300 annual additional cost, $171,800 already incurred, $471,500 additional (per memo)

Janitorial Subcontractors

Currently, the City pays $639,132 for janitorial subcontracting services per our memo.  The following are the impact of raising the wage requirement for these subcontracted employees:

$14.02 per hour                $178,318 annual additional cost (per memo)
$15.67 per hour                $274,663 annual additional cost  (my extrapolation)
$17.97 per hour                $408,788 annual additional cost  (my extrapolation)

Landscaping Subcontractors

Currently, the City pays $653,706 for landscaping subcontracting services per our memo.  The following are the impact of raising the wage requirement for these subcontracted employees:

$14.02 per hour                $35,954   annual additional cost (per memo)
$15.67 per hour                $117,066 annual additional cost  (my extrapolation)
$17.97 per hour                $230,199 annual additional cost  (my extrapolation)

The methods of extrapolating these impacts are very straightforward, since the staff had provided good supporting data in the memo, so I believe these results to be useful in informing our discussions.  I thought I would share them with staff and Council in advance of our discussions so they could be considered.  I look forward to our discussions Tuesday.

All the best,

Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:weavers at bouldercolorado.gov>
Phone: 303-416-6130