Mayor John Hickenlooper’s administration would oppose a “blanket” requirement for prevailing wages when the city subsidizes construction projects.
Denver Economic Development director John Huggins told the City Council on Wednesday that the city should weigh the benefits of requiring the prevailing wage on a case-by-case basis against other benefits such as affordable housing, sustainability or historical preservation.
“Because of the variety and the different mix of public goods that we see demanded on the different kinds of projects that we work on, we don’t think a single one-size- fits-all policy would be appropriate,” Huggins said.
Huggins’ comments come two days after about 700 workers delivered cards to Hickenlooper’s staff asking that the city pass a prevailing wage ordinance for all tax-increment-financing deals.
Tax-increment financing – or TIF – is a way of subsidizing developments where the developer is reimbursed as property and sales taxes are generated.
“We are going to continue to grow,” electrician Tom Rutherford said Monday. “They are going to continue to use TIF. I think it’s fair that they require a good wage for workers when they provide a subsidy.”
The city is using the system on about 30 projects, and Huggins said about 80 percent of the subsidies go to projects with prevailing wage, which is the most common pay for that particular type of work.
