Title
Resolution to Adopt Recommendations Regarding the Application of the City's Living Wage Ordinance (LWO)
Memorandum
Attached for your consideration is a resolution to adopt recommendations from the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board (HHSAB) regarding the application of the City's Living Wage Ordinance (LWO).
BACKGROUND
In September of 2012, City Council considered a resolution that directed a policy and impact review of the Living Wage Ordinance. The conversation was in response to the first request for a waiver from a non-profit organization in more than a decade, and noted disparities in living wage rates (up 18%) and allocated human services funding (down 11%) over the period of 2008-2012. The resolution was withdrawn with the direction that the HHSAB provide recommendations to City Council regarding how the LWO should be enforced, how waivers should be reviewed, and what impact the LWO has on human service nonprofits.
In November of 2012, OCED conducted a preliminary survey to gauge impacts of the LWO on non-profit contractors. The HHSAB followed up on the issue with a commissioned study by Professor Ian Robinson and his students at the University of Michigan, with a final report provided to the HHSAB in July 2013.
The resulting "Report on the Impact of Ann Arbor's Living Wage Ordinance on Washtenaw County Non-Profit Human Services Providers" provided anonymous survey information on these agencies and is attached to this resolution for background and reference.
Based on these collective reviews, the HHSAB is now making recommendations to the City Council through the attached resolution to improve the application of the LWO in the City of Ann Arbor.
Staff
Prepared by: Mary Jo Callan, Community and Economic Development Director
Reviewed by: Steve Powers, City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The Office of Community and Economic Development and the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board examined the Living Wage Ordinanc...
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