The proposed ordinance was prepared at the request of Commissioner David Richardson.

On October 14, 2020, the Mayor and City Commission referred the proposed ordinance to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (the “FERC”).

On January 22, 2021, the FERC unanimously recommended the adoption of the proposed ordinance.

On February 10, 2021, the Mayor and City Commission adopted the proposed Ordinance at first reading.

The City’s Prevailing Wages Ordinance, set forth in Chapter 31 of the City Code, currently requires that for “City construction projects” with a contract value in excess of $1,500,000, the contractor must pay laborers, apprentices and mechanics minimum wages, commonly referred to as “prevailing wages,” in accordance with the wage rates established from time to time by the United States Department of Labor. 

As currently drafted, based on the definition of “City construction project” in the Prevailing Wages Ordinance, the requirements only apply to construction contracts to which the City is a party. Accordingly, the Prevailing Wages Ordinance does not apply where the City is approving the construction of a building on City-owned land pursuant to a development agreement, ground lease or long-term management agreement, simply because the City is not a party to the underlying construction contract with the general contractor or the design/builder for the project.

The proposed ordinance would extend the Prevailing Wages Ordinance to include construction projects on City-owned land that are developed by persons or entities other than the city, but which require the participation of the city as a party to a (i) development agreement, (ii) ground lease, or (iii) management agreement.

If adopted, the proposed ordinance would provide the same wage protections to construction workers performing work on City-owned land as those that perform work on City projects. Simply put, if a developer desires the privilege of constructing a project on City-owned land, the sponsor proposes that the same wage requirements that the City imposes on itself for its own projects should apply to the developer’s project.

The proposed language is similar to language currently set forth in the City’s Local Workforce Hiring Ordinance, which extends local workforce hiring goals to privately funded projects on City-owned land, as well as the City’s Art in Public Places Ordinance, which applies to privately funded developments on City-owned land. The proposed ordinance would simply place minimum wages for construction workers at parity with the City’s desire to obtain public art contributions from developers.

In addition, as every development implicates unique issues and the City Commission may desire the flexibility to take into account the overall public benefits or other issues associated with any given project, the sponsor proposes that the requirements of the Ordinance could be waived by the City Commission on a case-by-case basis, by an affirmative 5/7ths vote. In addition, as the City Commission’s express policy is to incentivize affordable housing and workforce housing projects in the City, the proposed ordinance would exclude such projects from the requirements of the Prevailing Wages Ordinance.