The Tompkins County legislature voted 11-3 Tuesday in favor of a resolution to explore an increase to the minimum wage, and to include the county legislators and Human Rights Committee in community research regarding a wage increase at the municipal level.
New York’s minimum wage increased on Jan. 1 to $16 per hour in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, and to $15 for the rest of the state. The increase was part of a seven-year rollout, which began in 2017. At that time, the upstate minimum wage increased to $10.40.
In 2024, Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations projected a $18.45 living wage in Tompkins County, an increase of 10% since 2022. According to the study in 2023, roughly 19,000, or about 40%, of workers in the county earned less than $18.45. The studies used data for nine basic needs categories and assumed the worker has health insurance and the cost of childcare was not included.
Lonnie Everett , a UAW international representative , addressed Tompkins County legislators Tuesday, arguing for the county to bridge the gap between the current $15 minimum wage and a living wage well above that. Others weren't convinced that raising the bar for minimum pay would be all positive.
Arguments for a higher minimum wage in Tompkins County
“We’re here today to support the Tompkins County Workers Center in their fight for a living wage," Everett said. "As we know a minimum wage just sets a floor level for wage for somebody to live, versus a living wage which should set a standard that allows people to survive based on inflationary concerns and everything they do on a daily basis. We know that a minimum wage is not enough, even though the state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal, it’s not a living wage.”
Everett said that county residents should not want to see their neighbors and people they work with on government subsidies or working multiple jobs, but instead should advocate for them working one job and be able to take care of themselves and their families.
“This council here, with this legislation, you can do something special. You can help everybody in the county meet a living wage," he said. "This can help to pave the way for that taking place, not just for Cornell folks, but for everyone living in this county. Nobody should ever want to see another human being struggling."
Former Ithaca Alderperson and chair of the Ithaca branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Jorge Defendini spoke in favor of minimum wage raising.
“We need to raise minimum wage so that it reflects our reality,” he said. “You should be able to make ends meet working a minimum wage job. You shouldn’t have to find another part-time job, and there’s nothing noble about working yourself to an early grave just to pay rent.
"If you can’t pay a living wage as a business, frankly … you aren’t running a viable business is what I would say to folks who will be fearmongering around business viability if this were to pass.”
Defendini said he worked for minimum wage at Insomnia Cookies in Collegetown while he held a seat on the Ithaca City Council last year. He said that if he wasn’t getting a paycheck from city hall, he would not be able to pay rent and afford to eat each month.
Raising the minimum could make or break small businesses and non-profits, stress county lines
Legislator Greg Mezey proposed amendments to the ruling, which strived to make the resolution more clear, changing the title of the resolution and clarifying that it was about minimum wage rather than a living wage.
Legislator Mike Sigler held the only vote against amending the later adopted resolution.
“I have a great deal of concern that every job is going to be a living wage job, and that’s part of the reason that I voted not to change this,” Sigler said. “The folks here (the rest of the legislature) wanted to make this different, but everyone sitting behind me, they all think this is a living wage thing, not a minimum wage thing."
"From what everybody was saying, including a former city councilor who talked about working a job at a minimum wage and how a business should exist if it can't pay minimum wage ... I really do think that this is a much bigger thing than just the committee and staff talking about it. If we’re going to (increase minimum wage), we’re going to have to take a hard look at it.”
Legislator Lee Shurtleff took exception to some of what Defendini said earlier in the meeting.
“I have a business, and my district is nestled between two counties, Cortland and Cayuga," he said. "The business I operate has two locations, one in Tompkins and one in Cayuga. The market that I work with is much broader than the township I’m in or the portion of Tompkins County I’m in. The choices people make to use my services really don’t come from the Ithaca area.
“I have to look at my business from a standpoint of competing with those that have different cost considerations. Legislation like the original resolution that was put forward would put me as a local business at a competitive disadvantage compared to those in different counties. I do pay a living wage to those that work for me, that’s a little better than most of the businesses out in my district can do.”
Shurtleff said the cost of living varies within the county, and that gas prices and property taxes can be significantly lower when crossing county lines.
“This brings me to the conundrum that I see in raising this, with the workforce that’s in my district, there are a lot of people who make minimum wage. Those people are in the small businesses, the farms, and the nonprofit agencies.”
Shurtleff said that an increase in minimum wage would “devastate” community organizations like the nonprofit Groton Rural Cemetery, and the Groton Community Healthcare Center. Shurtleff is chair of the board of directors for both organizations.
“The people that we employ are generally retired folks or kids that come in the summertime to help us. You raise the minimum wage, we either cut back services or we throw up our hands, can’t get volunteers, and it becomes a charge against the town and the municipality has to raise taxes to maintain it,” he said.
Shurtleff called for a broader county-wide study before a wage raise in Tompkins County to measure the impact on rural areas, stating that small businesses will likely have to cut hours for workers, or increase the prices that people already drive out of the county to avoid."
'Only asking to start the conversation'
Mezey, toward the end of discussion on the minimum wage resolution, acknowledged that the Tompkins County Legislature often "gets lumped into" Ithaca, and that it's not the only anchor in the Tompkins County community that would be impacted by a wage hike.
"There’s a lot more going on," Mezey said. "This is only asking to start the conversation of what those impacts would be, and why we brought this forward again was so that we could have a robust conversation, understand the potential impact on staff time, and I really hope, for all of those strong supporters of exploring what this might look like when it comes to budget season … that we also get behind it financially."
Mezey noted that legislators are not mandating an increase to minimum wage, and aren’t yet committing to a number, but they are challenging New York State on Home Rule Law and the ability for municipalities to make changes to contribute to their community by pursuing a municipal wage increase.
“Tompkins County legislators voted for the workers struggling to survive, for the businesses fighting to keep their doors open, and for the future of a close-knit community," Tal Frieden, ALIGN Campaign Manager for the Raise Up NY coalition , said in a statement Wednesday.
"This is a huge victory for workers across the state, where the minimum wage still lags far behind a living wage," he said. "Tompkins County has sent a message loud and clear that we must invest in working families to end our cost-of-living crisis, and Raise Up NY applauds County legislators for bravely charting a path forward. We’ll keep fighting for fair, dignified wages for all New Yorkers.”
This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Minimum wage debate lands in Tompkins County legislature. Here's the latest
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