Workers in unincorporated Boulder County will earn at least $25 per hour by 2030 under a new minimum wage ordinance approved by the Board of County Commissioners this week.
The minimum wage in unincorporated Boulder County will increase to $15.69 an hour starting in January and continue increasing by 5.8% per year until 2030. The minimum wage is currently $13.65.
Commissioners Claire Levy, Marta Loachamin and Ashley Stolzmann unanimously approved the measure after hearing public comments from 11 community members.
Colin Larson, government affairs director for the Colorado Restaurant Association, was among those who spoke against the minimum wage increase.
“Our opposition comes primarily from a process issue,” Larson said. “We’ve been working in good faith along with our colleagues in the business community on a regional minimum wage and are engaged in that process.”
Boulder County previously worked with other county municipalities to look at establishing a regional minimum wage, and seeing the county move forward without those other stakeholders feels contrary to the work that’s already been done, Larson said.
It’s also causing some businesses to scramble to adjust their 2024 budgets, he said.
Plans to increase the minimum wage in Boulder County have been in motion since the state legislature made it legal to enact local minimum wage requirements in 2019, Loachamin said.
She encouraged Larson and others who were concerned about the impact of the ordinance on local businesses to continue engaging with county officials.
“I think there’s a way for us to also support our local businesses so they can thrive and feel good about taking care of their employees,” she said.
Geof Cahoon, president of the AFL-CIO’s Boulder Area Labor Council, said while he hoped the minimum wage would increase at a faster rate, the county’s position is reasonable.
“We will continue as the Colorado AFL-CIO speaking for working families to support reliance on the Center for Law and Policy’s living wage (guidelines,)” he said. “We hope that it continues to inform your discussions and it will certainly continue to inform our advocacy.”
Boulder County officials researched Denver’s minimum wage ordinance when crafting the policy, according to a memo written by county staff. Denver’s minimum wage will increase to $18.29 on Jan. 1.
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