LWVBC position on Living Wage

The LWVBC position on Minimum/Living Wages, adopted in 2014, states that the living wage in a jurisdiction should reflect the minimum required to avoid poverty without government assistance or subsidies. The LWVBC supports efforts to set an adequate minimum wage in communities across Boulder County.

Colorado law regarding local minimum wage

Since 2019, Colorado law has allowed local governments to raise the minimum wage for all workers, not just municipal employees.

By law, various stakeholders—groups that are impacted by the outcome of this effort—are required to participate in the process before the minimum wage can be raised. Stakeholders include chambers of commerce, small and large businesses, businesses that employ tipped workers, workers, labor unions, and community groups.

Yearly increases cannot exceed 15%. Increases can only occur on January 1 of any given year. 

LWVBC efforts in 2016-2019 for municipal workers

LWVBC was involved in successful campaigns in Boulder in 2016–2018 and in Longmont in 2019 to help increase the minimum wages of workers and contractors employed by those cities to a living wage. Read about the Longmont Living Wage Coalition in 2019—the campaign, its successes.

Boulder County Self-Sufficiency Wage Coalition (2023)

Our organization was a member of the Boulder County Self-Sufficiency Wage Coalition, an advocacy group formed in 2023 of labor organizations, nonprofits, faith communities, and other community organizations. The Coalition's original proposal would have gradually raised the minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2028.

We support the efforts of the Boulder County Consortium of Cities, which is made up of elected officials, to achieve a minimum wage at the self-sufficiency level throughout the county. The self-sufficiency level is what a worker needs to earn to pay basic living expenses without assistance. The lowest paid workers in particular are struggling in the face of the rising cost of living.

In late 2023, the Boulder County Commissioners were the only elected officials to enact a change, gradually increasing the minimum wage to $25 by 2030 in unincorporated Boulder County (see details below).

 

Continued Coalition Efforts in 2024

During the living wage campaign In 2024, two kinds of information were available to city and town councils in Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Longmont, and Erie to make their decisions: community engagement feedback and economic data.

• Community engagement feedback. — From February into April 2024 a number of virtual and in-person engagement opportunities, with English and Spanish options, took place in each municipality. Discussions included information about how much people are currently being paid, how people feel about raising the minimum wage, and any positive and negative impacts that may come to individuals, businesses, and the community. People were also invited to respond to an online questionnaire.

• Economic data. — A study was commissioned from a third-party consultant, ECOnorthwest, to analyze economic factors in the county and make recommendations about raising the minimum wage.

City of Boulder officials enacted an ordinance to increase minimum wage by 8% per year for 3 years (see details below).

In August, the City of Longmont hosted a “fishbowl” discussion with city council members and representative groups of affected people. They gathered in a circle, with a larger group invited to listen in.

Also in August, a rally was held in Niwot, with local businesses and farmers asking County Commissioners to either reduce the county’s minimum wage, or to pause it until other communities in Boulder County are aligned. 

In September, the County Commissioners discussed either pausing next year’s increase or aligning with the City of Boulder’s minimum wage schedule. A public hearing will be scheduled for the end of October.

Colorado adjusts its minimum wage annually using a formula tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The “tip offset” of $3.02 is in the state constitution and does not change.

In 2025 the legislature amended state law concerning tipped employees. Beginning in 2026, a local government with a minimum wage higher than that of the state may increase the amount of the tip offset for tipped employees, as long as a tipped employee is not earning less than the state minimum wage for tipped employees.

2025 Mimimum Wage in	Non-tipped	Tipped
Colorado (if no local minimum applies)	$14.81	$11.79
Denver City/County	$18.81	$15.79
City of Edgewater	$16.52	$13.50
Boulder County (only unincorporated areas)	$16.57	$13.55
City of Boulder	$15.57	$12.55

Source: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

Source: Colorado Sun

In 2023, our Boulder County Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance that increased the 2024 minimum wage in unincorporated areas of the county to $15.69 per hour. That was 15% above the state minimum ($13.65 in 2023), as state law allows.

In 2025 the increase is 5.67%, to $16.57 for non-tipped employees and $13.55 for tipped employees. After that, increases in 2026 through 2030 are 8.58%, arriving at $25 per hour in 2030.

The “pause” in 2025 (that is, the 5.67% increase before yearly 8.58% increases) was intended to allow the municipalities to get aligned with the County. The Colorado minimum wage was $14.42 in 2024, and municipalities are limited to a 15% increase in any year. That limited the municipalities to $16.57 in 2025. None of the municipalities decided to align with the County. The City of Boulder considered it, but decided on 8% per year for 3 years. 

$25/Hour by 2030

Year	Minimum wage	Increase
2023	$13.65	n/a
2024	$15.69	15%
2025	$16.57	5.67%
2026	$17.99	8.58%
2027	$19.53	8.58%
2027	$21.21	8.58%
2029	$23.03	8.58%
2030	$25.00	8.58%

Source: Boulder County News Archive

Boulder

Boulder City Council voted unanimously on October 10th, 2024, to raise the minimum wage in the city by 8% a year for three years:

Year	Minimum wage
2024	$14.42 (State minimum)
2025	$15.57
2026	$16.82
2027	$18.17

Tipped employees are paid $3.02 per hour less, per state laws. The proposed increase includes unemancipated minors. We supported this decision.

The new law is Chapter 12-6 of the Boulder Revised Code, Minimum Wage.

 

Lafayette, Longmont, and Erie

To date, the councils of these municipalities have not reached a decision on minimum wage; they say they want more input.

Council members need to hear from residents! A livable minimum wage strengthens a local economy and benefits employers and employees alike.

Louisville

In September 2024, the council voted in a straw poll not to consider raising the minimum wage.

We urge Louisville residents to ask your council members to reconsider.

Watch and Read

As part of the 2024 Living Wage Campaign, Boulder, Lafayette, Louisville, Longmont, and Erie councils heard staff presentations of the material, including a virtual discussion with the ECOnorthwest researcher in charge of the Boulder County study. Videos of three of those sessions are available on YouTube:

Boulder  - Aug 22, 2024 - at 2:26:00

Longmont - Aug 27. 2024 - at 20:30

Local Minimum Wage Report 2023 from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Longmont Minimum Wage Fishbowl Event August 25, 2025 video and transcript (video starts about 12 minutes in)

Are you interested in Living Wage? Join our group

 

To get started, send an email to our team leaders:

Deborah Hayes
Peggy Leech