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Niwot business owners urge Boulder County to pause unincorporated minimum-wage increases
Summary
Multiple Niwot residents and small-business owners told the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners during public comment that the county's higher minimum wage for unincorporated areas is harming small businesses and risking vacancies, and asked the board to pause future increases until municipalities align.
Dozens of Niwot business owners and residents told the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners on April 3 that unincorporated Boulder County's minimum wage, now higher than nearby cities, is damaging small businesses and harming the town's economic sustainability.
At the public-comment period, Niwot residents described restaurant closures, falling sales-tax receipts and hiring difficulties they attribute to the county wage schedule. "This policy was meant to be regional, you needed the municipalities to come along," Niwot resident and small-business owner Nick Little said. "But now the municipalities backed out and unincorporated Boulder County ... is left paying the price."
The speakers pressed the board to pause scheduled increases and to use a county ordinance provision that the speakers said could align the county wage with municipalities. "We're not against minimum wage," said Tony Santelli, a long-time Niwot resident and former tavern…
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