Boulder Chamber urges restraint as city officials consider minimum-wage hike

BOULDER — As the Boulder City Council mulls its options for a minimum-wage hike, the Boulder Chamber is urging officials to be mindful of the negative spillover effects that hikes could have on city businesses, especially for small operators, nonprofit groups and restaurants. 

“Our business leaders are very sensitive to the challenges that many of our residents and lower-paid workforce have in making sure that they can thrive in our community. That’s an important element of our consideration,” Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayer told BizWest. “Having said that, these are unique times. … Our businesses are facing challenges like never before: inflated costs, higher property-tax rates, additional workforce expenses, coupled with a changing landscape for business activity coming out of the COVID period.”

In a letter sent to Boulder leaders this week, the chamber, which has not yet taken an official position on the wage issue, warned that aggressive increases could “break (the) backs” of some city business owners. 

During a roughly three-hour study session on the minimum-wage issue held Thursday evening, Boulder City Council instructed city staff to begin drafting several ordinances that would incrementally increase the city’s current minimum wage of $14.42 per hour.

The basic framework of these draft ordinances would increase the wage by 8% in 2025, 7% in 2026 and 6% in 2027, or by 8% each year for those three years.

“We can change those numbers … after going through the public process” and prior to a final vote, Mayor Aaron Brockett said. 

The issue is expected to return to Boulder City Council for public hearings, further tweaks and ultimately a vote on Sept. 19 and Oct. 10. Other municipalities in Boulder County are set to begin a similar process in the coming weeks.

While Boulder officials failed to reach consensus on exactly how minimum-wage increase should be rolled out, the members of City Council agreed that some immediate action is necessary. 

“Wages haven’t really kept up with rent or food or anything really, so there’s a need to do something big fairly quickly,” Boulder City Councilmember Lauren Folkerts said. 

Business groups also acknowledge the plight of local low-wage earners. 

“We recognize that economic inequity is one of the greatest challenges to our economy,” Tayer said.

But, he added, “if City Council is determined to increase the minimum wage, we would encourage them to take steps to reduce the negative impact on our businesses and nonprofits. That would include (supporting) the lowest possible curve for minimum wage increases. We would encourage them not to put any future increases on automatically, but instead to thoughtfully analyze the actual impacts of previous increases.”

In late 2023, Boulder County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of an aggressive approach to its minimum wage, increasing it to $15.69 in 2024 with plans to boost it incrementally each year until it reaches $25 in 2030. 

That move — which made Boulder County the first government in the region to take advantage of House Bill 19-1210, the legislation that allows local cities and counties to increase their minimum wages beyond the state mandate — applied only to workers in unincorporated parts of the county, including those in Gunbarrel and Niwot.

“Notably, and regrettably, the enabling state statute comes with a high degree of restraint on flexibility to address the peculiarities of different industry sectors and workforce characteristics,” the Boulder Chamber’s letter said. “The only possible exemption from a local government mandated increase in the minimum wage, for example, is for unemancipated minors. Thus, while the state greenlit local control over minimum wage rates, they still retain maximum state control over the disposition of any subsequent increase, putting a disturbing governor on creativity in responding to local conditions.”

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