8664 - ADDING A NEW CHAPTER 12-6, “MINIMUM WAGE,” B.R.C. 1981, SETTING A LOCAL CITYK:\HUAD\o-8664 2nd Rdg-2362.docx
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ORDINANCE 8664
AN ORDINANCE ADDING A NEW CHAPTER 12-6,
“MINIMUM WAGE,” B.R.C. 1981, SETTING A LOCAL CITY
OF BOULDER MINIMUM WAGE TO BE COMPETITIVE
AND RESPONSIVE TO CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS OF
ITS COMMUNITY; AND SETTING FORTH RELATED
DETAILS
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOULDER,
COLORADO:
Section 1. A new Chapter 12-6, “Minimum Wage,” B.R.C. 1981, is hereby added to read
as follows:
Chapter 6 – Minimum Wage
12-6-1. – Purpose and Legislative Intent.
(a)Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to recognize the importance of addressing living
affordability in the city of Boulder; to ensure all workers within the city are paid a
sufficient wage relative to the cost of living; to do so in a manner that is mindful of the
larger market in which the city is situated; and to administer a local minimum wage
requirement in a manner that respects, serves, and protects the interests of both employers
and employees within the city.
(b)Legislative Intent. The City Council recites the following legislative findings and
statements of intent that were taken into consideration in the adoption of this chapter:
(1)The City Council of the City of Boulder recognizes that the cost of living in
Boulder exceeds the average cost of living in the state of Colorado.
(2)Despite the statewide minimum wage increases, the present rate does not
adequately provide enough financial support for the health and wellbeing of the
city’s working residents.
(3)According to a 2024 study conducted by ECOnorthwest, twenty-two percent of city
residents live below the Federal Poverty Level and approximately thirty-seven
percent of employment in the city of Boulder is in low-wage industries, including
service and retail industries.
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(4)To address this concern, the City of Boulder seeks to raise the local wage to an
amount that aids working residents within the city to afford basic living necessities.
Doing so will allow for greater prosperity for workers in Boulder and combat
economic and social inequities, as well as racial and gender wage gaps.
(5)Raising the minimum wage would place the city on par with other local
jurisdictions within the state which have raised their wages to increase affordability.
(6)The state of Colorado allows local jurisdictions to establish a minimum wage for
individuals performing work while physically within the jurisdiction under Title 29,
Article 1, Part 14 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Pursuant to this statute, the City
of Boulder has the authority to set a minimum wage exceeding the state minimum
wage as long as the city abides by the state’s qualifications and restrictions on
applicability.
(7)Enforcement of this chapter shall be through the Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment.
(8)Addressing the minimum wage for the working residents of the city of Boulder is a
matter of significant local concern.
12-6-2. – Definitions.
Employee or Worker means an individual performing, or expected to perform, four or more
hours of work for an employer in any given week within the city. The terms employee or worker
does not include:
(1)a person traveling through the city’s jurisdiction from a point of origin outside of
the city to a destination outside of the city, with no employment-related or
commercial stops in the city, except for refueling or the employee’s personal meals
or errands; or
(2)a person providing volunteer services that are uncompensated except for
reimbursement of expenses such as meals, parking or transportation; or
(3)an independent contractor, as defined in federal law.
Employer means an individual, person, partnership, firm, corporation, association,
organization or any other person, group, collective or entity that employs one or more
employees, or any successor thereof.
Food and beverage worker means a worker for any business or enterprise that prepares and
offers for sale food or beverages for consumption either on or off an employer’s physical
premises.
Tips means an optional verifiable sum presented directly and customarily by customers as a
gratuity in recognition of some service performed for customers by the person receiving the tip.
Tips include, but are not limited to:
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(1)tips received directly from customers;
(2)tips received electronically from employers;
(3)tips received from other employees through tip-sharing arrangements;
(4)charged tips, like credit and debit card charges, that are distributed to employees by
employers; and
(5)noncash forms of tips, including tickets, passes, or other goods or commodities that
customers give to employees.
Work means any services performed physically within the geographic boundaries of the
city on behalf of or for the benefit of an employer whether on an hourly, piecework, commission,
time, task, or other basis.
12-6-3. – Minimum Wage Required.
(a)Every employer must ensure its employees are paid not less than the City of Boulder
Minimum Wage. An increase in the City of Boulder Minimum Wage takes effect on the
same date as a secured increase to the statewide minimum wage required under section 15
of article XVII of the state constitution.
(b)The City of Boulder Minimum Wage is as follows, exclusive of fringe benefits and any
other deductions or credits, except as otherwise described in this chapter:
(1)Beginning January 1, 2025: $15.57 per hour;
(2)Beginning January 1, 2026: $16.82 per hour;
(3)Beginning January 1, 2027: $18.17 per hour;
(4)Beginning January 1, 2028, and on January 1 of each subsequent calendar year, the
City of Boulder Minimum Wage shall increase by an amount corresponding to the
prior year increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index, for all items, published
annually for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Area.
(c)Tips regularly and actually received by a food and beverage worker may be applied to an
employer’s obligation to pay the food and beverage worker the City of Boulder Minimum
Wage. However, no more than $3.02 per hour in tip income (“Tip Credit”) may be used to
partially offset payment of this wage.
(d)Nothing in this chapter shall lessen any other obligation applicable to an employer to pay a
minimum wage under any other law, rule, or regulation, including but not limited to federal
and state minimum wage laws or that arise from or in connection with federal or state
funding. In the event of a conflict with any other applicable wage requirement, the greater
wage rate must be paid.
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12-6-4. – Employer Responsibilities.
(a)Employers must post notice with letters no less than one inch high of the currently effective
City of Boulder Minimum Wage in a prominent place that is easily accessible to all
employees. Employers must display the posting in English and Spanish. If the display of a
physical notice is not feasible, including the situation when an employee does not have a
regular workplace or job site, employers must provide the required information on an
individual basis, in an employee’s primary language, in paper or electronic form that is
reasonably conspicuous and accessible. Notice shall include how to contact the Colorado
Department of Labor and employment to file a complaint.
(b)Employers must make, retain, and make available to the city or to the Colorado Department
of Labor and Employment, upon request, payroll records adequate to determine compliance
with this chapter for a minimum of three years for each record.
12-6-5. – Violations; Enforcement; Penalties.
(a)It is unlawful and a violation of this chapter to commit, authorize, allow, aid, abet, or
conceal a violation of this chapter.
(b)The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is fully authorized to investigate and
issue orders to remedy violations of this chapter.
(c)Any person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may file or pursue a
complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor and Enforcement against an employer
alleged to have violated this chapter within two years of any alleged violation, except that
violations under this chapter for a willful violation may be brought within three years after
the date of the violation. Nothing in this chapter shall preclude an individual from pursuing
or participating in any other enforcement action or other remedy available under state of
Colorado law.
(d)A violation of this chapter shall be considered sufficient “cause” to suspend or revoke a city
business license pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 4-1-10, “Revocation or
Suspension of Licenses,” of this code.
12-6-6. – City Manager Rules.
The city manager is authorized to adopt rules and regulations necessary to interpret,
further define or implement the provisions of this chapter.
Section 2. This Ordinance is necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of
the residents of the City and covers matters of local concern.
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Section 3. The City Council deems it appropriate that this Ordinance be published by title
only and orders that copies of this Ordinance be made available in the office of the city clerk for
public inspection and acquisition.
INTRODUCED, READ ON FIRST READING, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED BY
TITLE ONLY this 10th day of October 2024.
____________________________________
Aaron Brockett,
Mayor
Attest:
__________________________________
Elesha Johnson,
City Clerk
READ ON SECOND READING, PASSED AND ADOPTED this 7th day of November
2024.
____________________________________
Aaron Brockett,
Mayor
Attest:
__________________________________
Elesha Johnson,
City Clerk