Fort Worth leaders propose pay raise for city's minimum wage workers

FORT WORTH, Texas - Two Fort Worth City Council members are proposing a significant hike in pay for its minimum wage workers. The rate currently sits at $15.45 an hour.

"$15.25, $15.45 is just not a livable wage here in Fort Worth," said Councilmember Chris Nettles.

"They talk about light, bills and cost of childcare, the cost of food, the cost of housing," said Councilmember Jared Williams.

A specially called budget work session at city hall on Tuesday will address the matter.

Councilmembers Nettles and Williams say it’s crucial, noting that $15.45 per hour lags far behind comparable and smaller Texas cities.

"And you have Dallas is at 18. You have Austin, who’s at 20. You have Richardson, who is at 18. Some odd dollars so smaller cities than us have a higher minimum wage than the city of Fort Worth," Nettles said.

Nettles and Williams have requested the city manager to come up with a plan that makes the wage increase a reality. They are hoping for a 25% increase to $20 an hour.

Some pushback is expected with the city’s efforts to further reduce homeowners’ property tax rates and as its fire department works to absorb the role of MedStar. 

Still, Williams and Nettles say despite all, they believe the minimum wage challenge can be met.

A common discrepancy is how to address the gap between raising the pay for lower wage roles and having to consider a proportionate raise for higher paid roles, or what’s called "compression."

"I think compression is something that we as a city, especially our city management, that’s a problem for them to tackle," Williams said. "But at the end of the day, we have to pay living wages. We can’t use compression as an excuse to not do the right thing."

"We want to have a true conversation about the different possibilities of how we can get to $20 an hour," Nettles said.