By John Herrick | Boulder Reporting Lab
The Boulder City Council is considering raising the city’s minimum wage to between $15.57 per hour and $16.58 per hour starting next year, with additional increases of over a dollar in each of the following two years. A final decision is expected later this year.
If approved, the wage hike would impact thousands of workers currently earning the state minimum wage of $14.42 per hour. Labor advocates want the city council to raise the minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2030, but councilmembers were noncommittal during a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 22. They said they were concerned about the impact on small businesses facing higher labor costs, even as they agreed the increase is necessary to help workers afford to live in Boulder.