Salt Lake County mayor seeks $15 minimum wage for county employees

Full-time Salt Lake County employees would earn at least $15 an hour under Mayor Jenny Wilson’s new budget proposal.

And she’s seeking $2 million to move temporary employees, who mainly work in the parks and recreation areas, closer to that same living-wage goal.

Her plan is to ensure everyone employed by the county earns at least $15 an hour by 2024.

“We know that some of our temporary staff are feeding their kids. They are reliant on their pay with us,” Wilson said. “I think that it’s antiquated to be behind what is a fair wage for all.”

The mayor is seeking a 2% pay increase for all county employees with additional merit raises on top of that. She wants even bigger boosts for sheriff’s employees, prosecutors and public defense attorneys in her spending plan released Thursday. The proposal relies on Utah’s robust economic growth and federal coronavirus relief money. The county, like many governments, is finding it challenging to fill openings and keep employees from being recruited to higher-paying places.

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/10/21/mayor-seeks-minimum-wage