Living Wage
The St. Louis Living Wage Ordinance (No. 65597) requires that certain entities who enter into contracts with the City of Saint Louis, or who otherwise benefit from taxpayer-funded financial assistance, pay their employees in accordance with the annually-adjusted Living Wage Rate, which is composed of both an Hourly Wage Rate, equal to 130% of the Federal Poverty Guideline for a family of three, and an Hourly Prevailing Fringe Benefits Rate, which may be provided to employees in any combination of bona fide fringe benefits and differential payments in cash. The Ordinance applies to entities who either (1) enter into service contracts with the City of St. Louis, where such contracts have annual contract values in excess of $50,000; (2) receive over $20,000,000 in financial assistance over the course of one year; or (3) enter into any type of written agreement with the St. Louis Airport Commission or the City of St. Louis for the use of real property where the total value of such agreement (including all lease, concession and other payments made) over a twelve-month period is $50,000 or more. The City Compliance Official is appointed by the Mayor to oversee compliance and monitoring procedures as required by the Ordinance. Business Diversity Development has been delegated the task of administering the day-to-day operation of the Living Wage Program.