County could become first NY municipality to raise its own minimum wage

Tompkins County will pursue an examination of the pros and cons of raising the county minimum wage. In an 11-3 vote of the legislature Aug. 6 (Legislators Mike Sigler [R-Lansing], Dan Klein [D-Danby] and Mike Lane [D-Dryden] opposed), the legislature passed a resolution committing the county to the exploration of the possibility of establishing a local wage that is above the current state-imposed $15 per hour.

The resolution was amended from its original version to state that the legislature wishes to allocate up to $50,000 from the contingent fund to pay for a consultant who would complete a study of the impacts of a change to the Tompkins County minimum wage.  

This amendment was brought forth by Legislator Greg Mezey, who owns and operates a small portfolio of local residential and commercial properties as well as a laundromat. He said he would like to thoroughly study the issue before implementing a higher wage to make sure the results are fair for everyone involved, including employers.

“We need to find the balance,” he said. 

If Tompkins County does raise its minimum wage, it will join 22 states and 43 cities and counties that all raised their minimum wages on Jan. 1, 2024, according to a report by the National Employment Law Project. 

Though they are relatively new to the board, having been elected in 2021, Veronica Pillar (D-Ithaca) has been a vocal supporter of raising the minimum wage.

“The idea of raising the minimum wage in this county is as simple as I think everyone in this county should be paid enough that they can live comfortably–not in luxury, but able to pay all their expenses with just one full-time job,” Pillar told Tompkins Weekly after the vote. 

They pointed out that there are roughly 18,000 workers in Tompkins County who make below the living wage, according to a 2023 report from researchers at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR School).  

Out of approximately 48,020 wage earners (i.e., excluding the self-employed) living in Tompkins County, the IRL School estimated in the report that 38% earn hourly wages below $18.45, the current living wage set by the ILR School. 

“Which is really not acceptable,” Pillar said. “I really do believe, based on all the quantitative studies and anecdotes that I’m aware of, that paying close to a living wage is good for everyone because you’re not running your economy on desperation.”

At the Aug. 6 meeting, Sigler said that although the resolution in question was about raising the minimum wage, much of the discussion surrounding the issue has been about Tompkins County residents making a living wage, which is significantly higher.

Living wage, as defined by the ILR school, is the amount that an individual must earn to support themselves and/or their family, working full-time as a single adult with no children. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that the living wage in Tompkins County has increased to $24.64, a number that Ian Greer, research professor at Cornell University and director of the ILR Co-Lab, said will likely align with the ILR School’s new calculation, which it will release in early 2025. 

Due to inflation and the rising cost of living in Tompkins County, Greer said the new living wage determined by the IRL School will almost certainly be even higher than MIT’s.

Sigler said that he believes most people involved in the discussion as proponents of raising the minimum wage would actually like to see the minimum wage set at living wage standards and that this would affect many employers, including Tompkins County.

“We’re a living wage employer,” he said of the county. “I mean, if you just do the back of the envelope math, we have 700 employees [at] 40 hours a week, six bucks an hour — I mean, we’re talking wage compression, 52 weeks. … You’re looking at over $8 million that could end up costing the county, and that’s something I would like our staff to look at.”

Sigler added that he is concerned that raising the minimum wage to match the living wage will eliminate local jobs.

“I do worry,” Sigler said. “I mean, Big Lots is closing up by me [in Lansing].”

He foresees some smaller businesses struggling to pay the calculated living wage, as well.

“I know of three businesses on The Commons that are all closing,” Sigler said.

“And some of these jobs did pay pretty well, like $20 an hour, but $24? No,” he added. “And now they’re not going to exist.  

Summer jobs such as the lifeguard position at the Alex Haley pool could be eliminated for lack of ability to pay a living wage, Sigler said.  

“I think part of this study needs to be concerned about those jobs,” he said.

Pillar said that they believe it likely that the county would raise the minimum wage gradually. 

Greer cautioned against raising it too slowly. “A general rule we’ve learned from our simulations is: the faster the raise, the fewer people are affected by benefits cliffs because they are getting more income more quickly,” Greer said. 

If Tompkins County were the first county in the state to implement its own minimum wage, New York state would likely challenge the county’s actions, and the county can expect a lengthy court battle of up to two years, said Dan Klein, Tompkins County Legislature chair. Even with the help from experts who have pledged their time to the cause free of charge, it will still cost the county, he said.

“One of my concerns is that it will still require time from our county attorney,” Klein said, adding that it would not be surprising to him if it required hundreds of hours of work from the county legal offices.

“That’s my major objection to the whole thing,” Klein said.

Tompkins County could invoke “home rule” as an argument for the county’s right to set its own minimum wage, though Sigler said he is skeptical regarding the power of home rule.

“Home rule” is defined as “general powers of local governments to adopt and amend local laws; restrictions,” according to the New York State Senate website, which gives several alternative definitions, including, “procedure for adoption of local laws; referenda; filing and publication,” “powers of counties and cities to adopt charters,” and “requests of local governments for enactment of special laws relating to their property, affairs or government.”

“Listen,” Sigler said, “I believe in home rule. I like home rule in New York state. It’s in the New York State Constitution. I believe in it; I just don’t know if Albany believes in it, frankly. I mean, I live in a town now that is going to get buried in solar panels, and nobody seems to care about home rule when it comes to that, so it’s a little hard for me to kind of look at the home rule that’s in the constitution and think that that’s still upheld in New York state.” 

Experts have offered to help guide the county through state appeals processes. 

Columbia University scholar Dennis Fan is an associate clinical professor at Columbia Law School. Attending the Aug. 6 meeting over video call, he said that he also runs an appellate litigation clinic at Columbia Law School.

“I’m happy to answer any questions about minimum wage as it comes to the legal aspects of it,” he told the legislature.

Fan said he does not know whether or not the legislature would be successful in challenging state law to raise the minimum wage.

Municipalities who wish to raise the minimum wage in New York state have for decades been living in a state of legal uncertainty about whether they have the authority to do so, Fan said during the meeting.

“I think,” Fan added, “any sort of statute or any sort of local law that’s as important as the minimum wage would probably get challenged in court, and we can expect that, right? If any state passes a right to abortion, there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to be litigating about it, so that’s something to think about and something to watch out for, but it’s also kind of one of the requirements of taking proactive steps, and one of the requirements of county legislators is kind of the courage and the bravery to take those steps.”

Klein said he would be in favor of an alternative first step.

“I propose we do something very different and just ask New York state to allow us to change our local minimum wage,” Klein recently told Tompkins Weekly. “It would then be state legislative action rather than a court action.”

“Nobody has introduced that resolution,” Klein said, but he would prefer the county take that route.

“I almost view this idea that we’re just going to pass a law that is illegal — I view that as upsetting. It feels like an anti-government action,” Klein said, “especially since we haven’t even asked. 

For Greer, who was a member of a now-disbanded Tompkins County minimum wage working group formed in 2018, the legislature’s steps toward raising the minimum wage feel like a move in the right direction. 

“It’s amazing,” Greer said. “I spent quite some time in this working group not really knowing if the county government would act … but they really do want to enact policies that address the problem of in-work poverty.”