Charlottesville City Council members have proposed a minimum wage increase from $8.28 to $9 for City employees as a part of this year's budget.
The increase is part of Council's living wage policy, implemented in 1999 in an effort to pay all City employees a wage determined by the federal government as sufficient to keep a family of four just above the poverty level, City Vice-mayor Meredith Richards said.
Despite Council's efforts to match federal standards in 1999 and make subsequent annual increases of 3 to 4 percent in the wages of all City employees, the City's minimum wage fell short of the $9 federal minimum wage this year.
Although the minimum wage increase will cost the city $137,000, Council members are willing to make sacrifices in other areas of the budget to ensure an adequate minimum wage for its employees, Richards said.
"It is basic decency on the part of the City to make sure its employees are able to feed, clothe and house their families," Richards said.
In order to do so, the City cut $50,000 from its underground and utilities contingency fund, $50,000 from its economic development initiative and $40,000 from the McIntire Parks improvement budget.
Council members said they hope that the minimum wage increase for City employees will inspire other local employers to follow its example, as has been the case in the past.
"We feel that we set the bar in 1999, and we are setting it again," Richards said. "We are hoping the University and private employers in the area will follow suit. This is one way that we can set a moral standard as employers in the region, and in doing so, we believe we are sending a message to other employers that this is the right and the decent and the responsible thing to do."
While Council may be aiming to set an example, University financial officials said they do not have the same flexibility when setting minimum wage for employees.
"The City and the county have taxing authority and the ability to adjust revenues and expenses and therefore increase salaries," said Yoke San Reynolds, University vice president of finance. "Therefore, they have more flexibility to set wage rates. The University has to go with state authorizations because we are a state agency."
The University's current minimum wage is set at $8.37.
"The University has never followed the example of the City" in setting minimum wage levels for employees, Reynolds said.
Although $9 is an increase, Richards emphasized it is only a minimum.
"We would really like to pay enough for employees to live comfortably and own a home in the City, which is becoming increasingly difficult," Richards said. "Nine dollars is only the lowest possible wage we should offer."
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