Charlottesville City Council yesterday evening discussed raising the minimum wage of Charlottesville employees to $13 an hour from the current rate of $11.67.
The increase suggested yesterday reflects the Living Wage Campaign's definition of a living wage, as calculated by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank. Since 2004 the City has paid its employees a living wage, which it currently calculates to be $11.67 per hour for full-time workers.
Council members, now planning next year's budget, requested more information at the meeting about different calculations of a living wage from City Manager Maurice Jones and Leslie Beauregard, director of budget and performance management. Council members remain divided on the issue.
Councilwoman Dede Smith and Vice-Mayor Kristin Szakos voiced support for the measure as a way to improve the local economy and help city employees.
"Every dollar that we pay someone more, they're likely to spend," Szakos said.
She said the wage increase was not simply a matter of "doing the right thing" because it could directly help the City improve its services by attracting higher-skilled workers to municipal jobs.
Smith said the City would need a substantial amount of money to raise salaries of workers making less than $13 an hour.
Councilwoman Kathy Galvin said it would be unwise to revise the City's current living wage without researching the proposed increase.
"Ours looks really good already," Galvin said of Charlottesville's current living wage. "I think [a salary increase] needs to be done on really, really clear information... this is just not something there is consensus on."
Councilman Dave Norris said the debate came down to two competing formulas - the City's current calculation and the EPI number. He asked Jones to get more information before Council made a final decision, which Jones agreed to do.
Mayor Satyendra Huja said he did not know whether $13 per hour was the "right number" for a living wage.
During his budget presentation at the meeting, Beauregard said only 52 of 867 full-time City employees make less than $13 per hour, and 49 of those 52 employees make more than $12.70 per hour. These salaries do not include City employees' health care and retirement benefits. City spokesperson Ric Barrick said in an email "total benefits are estimated to be between 30 percent to 45 percent on top of an employee's salary and that depends mostly on which retirement plan an employee chooses."
Beauregard said raising all salaries to $13 an hour this year would cost around $35,000, and about $10,000 would cover benefits.
Galvin said instead of funding wage increases Council should consider other programs which benefit lower-income families and individuals.
Virginia has not yet passed its budget for next year, leaving open the possibility of the City and Charlottesville schools being forced to craft budgets without state funding.
"The General Assembly is not in session and does not have a budget," Beauregard said. While only 6 percent of the City's budget comes from the General Assembly, school districts are also funded by the state.
Beauregard said additional expenditures on health care and still-low property values negatively impacted the City's budget.
The City plans to spend an additional 12.5 percent to cover health care costs and will ask City employees to contribute more to their own health care plans. The City needs to add $863,000 to its retirement fund and $460,000 for health care benefits.
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