As City Council finalizes next year’s budget, city workers – including Council members themselves – are in for a pay raise.
Council is set to increase the minimum wage for city workers to $20 per hour after nine members in an informal vote Thursday showed support, with only Council Member Mackenzie Kelly opposed. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison was off the dais but expressed support in a tweet.
Originally, the minimum wage was set to rise to $18 per hour, per City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed budget. But following a push by labor activists and Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, that number rose, first to $22 per hour before settling on $20 per hour.
The pay raise is funded by an unexpected increase in sales tax revenue, leaving the city with an extra $20 million as it hashes out the budget. The raise will cost an estimated $7 million per year.
Around 4,100 workers, roughly a quarter of the city’s workforce, stand to benefit. Those currently making right around $20 per hour will also see their pay increase out of fairness. Council members’ staffers will get raises as well.
In the coming years, the minimum wage for city employees could rise further, up to $27 per hour, if the city follows through on a resolution from June of this year.
The pay raise comes as the city has experienced a dramatic increase in the cost of living since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the resolution, “Average rents in Austin have increased 35%, appraised values for (homes have)...
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