2006_0821_Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

LivingWages & Communities: Smarter Economic Development, LowerThan EXpected Costs Conclusion The eXperiences of the initial group of twenty cities and counties studied in this report are clear: liv- ing wage requirements have not significantly increased contracting costs or adversely affected the oper- ation of business subsidy programs. The overall cost increases were quite low and less than anticipat- ed, generally ranging from 0.003% to 0.079% of the localities' total budgets. In some communities, a few service contracts involving large concentrations of low-wageworlcers increased in cost more sub- stantially, but increases were still quite modest overall. The municipalities that eXtended living wage laws to their local business subsidy programs found that these policies did not prevent them from attracting new businesses to their communities. Several cities found that applying a living wage standard to these programs focused their economic development agencies on recruiting higher wage employers, and in some cases allayed public doubts about the appropriateness of using taXpayer dollars to support private businesses. This snapshot of the actual effects of fully implemented living wage laws in a range of localities sheds [ighc on the budget and economic consequences of such measures and provides useful guidance for policymakers considering adopting living wage laws in their communities. L�