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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-17-2015 - 8a - Update on Living Wage Policies 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 17, 2015 Action Agenda Item No. 8-a SUBJECT: Update on Living Wage Policies DEPARTMENT: County Manager, County PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Attorney ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonnie Hammersley, 245-2300 1) November 12, 2015 Memorandum - Travis Myren, 245-2300 Update on Living Wage Policies John Roberts, 245-2318 2) Memo from Cheryl Young with City of Durham Ordinance and Durham County Policy 3) Dollar Thresholds in North Carolina PURPOSE: To receive an update on Orange County's living wage policies and various living wage activities across the state, to discuss potential initiatives related to the living wage based on information from staff and the County Attorney, and to provide direction to staff on next steps regarding potential County living wage policy initiatives. BACKGROUND: The Board of County Commissioners has for some time maintained its support for the living wage. This has included the implementation of a living wage policy for all County employees, as well as potential development of living wage policies that would be applicable to those doing business with the County. Staff has provided a memorandum at Attachment 1 that provides an overview of the County's current living wage policies as well as activities related to the living wage across the state. The Board also previously asked staff, and specifically the County Attorney, for information regarding a potential policy requiring contractors doing business with Orange County to pay their employees a living wage. The County Attorney notes that, in 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly limited the authority of counties and cities by amending §153A-449, which authorizes contracting with private contractors, to include a new sentence, "A county may not require a private contractor under this section to abide by any restriction that the county could not impose on all employers in the county, such as paying minimum wage or providing paid sick leave to its employees, as a condition of bidding on a contract." (Emphasis added) This language limits the County's authority to contractually require a living wage to those contracts for which the County does not solicit bids. A contractual living wage requirement could therefore only apply to construction contracts below $30,000, purchases of supplies and 2 apparatus below $30,000, and service contracts in any amount so long as the County did not choose to solicit bids. There are potential pitfalls with applying a living wage policy to service contracts in any amount: 1) Although there are no legal requirements to solicit bids for service contracts Orange County departments regularly solicit bids for large service contracts in an effort to obtain the lowest bid for a particular service. When bids are solicited the policy could not apply. 2) Applying a living wage policy would cause substantial increases in costs to some departments and the county. It is likely contractors will increase the cost of contract in order to offset the effects of a policy of this type. These increased costs will be paid by the county. For example, Department of Social Services Director Nancy Coston estimates the cost of the department's contracts would increase as much as 50% if such a policy were adopted. 3) Some large or out-of-state sole source contractors as well as governmental entities would likely reject a contractual clause of this type and the county could be in a position of being unable to secure needed services. 4) A blanket policy would apply to nonprofits, which are ill-suited to absorb such costs. Nonprofits would also likely pass such costs through to the county. Potential Living Wage Policy Statement: It is the policy of Orange County that contractors, who enter contracts with Orange County in which the amount of the contract is $30,000 or less, must pay their employees a living wage. The calculated amount of the living wage shall be the amount established by the Orange County Board of Commissioners in the annual budget. This policy shall apply to all contractor employees, agents, and/or subcontractors who perform work pursuant to the terms of the contract with Orange County regardless of the situs where the work is performed. This policy shall not apply to not-for-profit corporations organized in North Carolina or to governmental entities. This policy may be adopted as a standalone policy or as part of the annual budget ordinance. Based on the information provided in Attachment 1, and on the information from the County Attorney above, the Board can discuss potential living wage initiatives for Orange County and provide direction to staff on next steps. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no social justice impact associated with receiving this update on living wage policies. If the Board subsequently moves forward on living wage initiatives, the following Orange County Social Justice Goals would be applicable: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or 3 ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with receiving this update and discussing potential policy initiatives. Should the Board adopt certain policies going forward such policies may create increases in the costs associated with contracting for certain goods and/or services. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board receive an update on Orange County's living wage policies and various living wage activities across the state, discuss potential initiatives related to the living wage based on information from staff and the County Attorney, and provide direction to staff on next steps regarding potential County living wage policy initiatives. Attachment 1 4 ^iiio oimiomiWUmouuWM��pVU�WNm�I'VIM�p�Nm� IIIV�MIII� m uuuuuuouomWu �uuumimuiu0iw10uW1 U) I y I onu p COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE 200 South Cameron Street Phone(919)245-2300 Post Office Box 8181 Fax(919)644-3004 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 November 12, 2015 TO: Bonnie Hammersley County Manager FROM: Travis Myren Deputy County Manager RE: Update on Living Wage Policies This memorandum summarizes the County's current living wage policies and discusses options and a process for potentially expanding these policies in the future. It evaluates the County's role in living wage initiatives from three different perspectives and highlights policy questions and next steps for continued analysis and potential policy development. County as an Employer The County has an established a living wage policy for its own employees. During the FY 14-15 Budget process, the Board of Commissioners established a living wage rate for employees of $12.76 per hour. The Board also codified a calculation methodology which uses the Federal Poverty Rate for a family of four and enhances that rate by 7.5% to produce an annual living wage rate for employees. For the FY 15-16 Budget, that calculation resulted in a wage rate lower than the established rate of$12.76, so the current rate was maintained for this fiscal year and will continue to be maintained until the formula produces an hourly rate higher than $12.76 per hour. The policy applies to all full time, part time, temporary, and seasonal employees. The policy has benefitted 124 temporary employees who currently earn $12.76 per hour. No regular employees are impacted since the current salary schedules set starting salaries for regular employees at rates higher than the living wage rate. For FY 15-16, the wage rate did not increase, so personnel costs did not increase as a result of the policy. As the rate increases in future years, the County Manager will include the increase as part of the Manager's base budget assumptions. Several public sector employers in the region have also adopted living wage standards for employees. These employers currently include but may not be limited to the Town of Carrboro, Town of Chapel Hill, Orange County Schools, City of Durham, Durham County, and the Durham Public Schools District. County as a Purchaser of Goods and Services In 2013, the State of North Carolina prohibited local government purchasing policies that would require a private company to pay a living wage as a condition of bidding on a contract. This legislation Page 1 1 5 significantly restricted the County's ability to impose a living wage requirement on vendors who do business with the County. In response to this legislation, Durham County, which had been requiring contractors to pay a living wage, removed this requirement and restricted its living wage policy to only apply to County employees. Consistent with this legislation, the County Attorney opined that a living wage requirement could only be applied to contracts that are not competitively bid. Under current law, this would include construction contracts under $30,000, purchases of supplies and apparatus under $30,000, and service contracts of any amount. • Construction Contracts under$30,000 The County could include a living wage requirement for construction contracts under $30,000 since these contracts are not competitively bid. According to Asset Management Services (AMS), the County engages contractors for projects under $30,000 approximately 60 times per year. AMS estimates that approximately forty percent (40%) of these contracts are likely to employ entry level positions or temporary workers that may fall below the living wage level. AMS estimates that the cost of these contracts would increase by approximately ten to fifteen percent or $15,000 to $20,000 annually if a living wage requirement were included in the contracts. • Purchases of Supplies and Apparatus under$30,000 Although the County could mandate a living wage for purchases of supplies and apparatus under $30,000, the application of a living wage policy for these transactions would be difficult to enforce. Examples of supplies and apparatus under $30,000 include office supplies and machinery, some vehicles and non-motorized equipment, heavy machinery,tools, and computer equipment. Identifying the workers who produce those particular supplies and tracking the wages paid to workers assembling those particular supplies or pieces of equipment would be problematic. • Service Contracts A living wage policy could be applied to a broad range of service contracts; however, the policy could only be used when a bid is not solicited. For professional service contracts, the County has frequently used a Request for Proposal (RFP) process as a tool to facilitate the selection of the best vendor to provide a particular service. As part of that grading process, price is used to compare competing proposals. The County Attorney has advised that the RFP process should not be used if the County applies a living wage provision to service contracts. The only legally acceptable solicitation is a request for qualifications (RFQ). The request for qualifications is not a bid. The process does not rely on price for any part of the selection decision. Rather, it uses vendor qualifications as the sole determinant in selecting among competing vendors. The RFQ process is typically used for complex professional services like architectural, engineering, or other forms of consulting services where a vendor's qualifications are paramount and the scope of services is not precisely defined. The disadvantage of using an RFQ process is that price information is not available during the initial selection process. The County would have the opportunity to negotiate a fee with the most qualified vendor and would have the option of negotiating with a competing firm if staff were not able to come to an agreement on price terms, but the County would not have the benefit of using comparative cost information during the initial selection process. Page 1 2 6 Service contracts are most prevalent in the Departments of Social Services and Aging. However, the County has not conducted a comprehensive analysis of the cost impact of requiring a living wage for all services providers. Social Services estimates that imposing a $12.76 per hour minimum wage rate on in-home aide providers, for example, would cost an additional $260,000 to provide the same level of service as this year. County as Community Leader Organizations in North Carolina have established voluntary living wage certification programs that promote and recognize private and public sector employers paying a living wage. In Buncombe County, a non-profit called Just Economics of Western Carolina is actively promoting living wage policies in that part of the state. According to the group's website, the organization offers members a variety of benefits: • A"Living Wage Certified" emblem for display, • Events, promotions, and sales highlighted on the Just Economics Facebook Page and publicity through advertisements in local media outlets, • Free promotion through the Just Economics member mailing list, Facebook Fans, and other printed lists, • A special profile of the business on the Just Economics website, • Participation in high-profile press conferences and Just Economics events aimed at promoting the Living Wage Employer Certification Program and the employers that meet the criteria, • Participation in a growing network of local employers dedicated to building a more sustainable economy, and • Free Participation in business education programs. Just Economics uses a formula based on local housing costs to calculate the living wage. This formula is driven by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) calculation of Fair Market Rents (FMR) for the area and the agency's guideline that no more than 30% of gross income should be dedicated to housing costs. Durham has a similar program to acknowledge and reward living wage employers. The Durham Living Wage Project offers a certification program to connect consumers to businesses paying a living wage. The Durham project, however, uses a standard of 7.5% over the Federal Poverty Level for a family of four to calculate its living wage. This methodology is consistent with the standard adopted by the City and County of Durham. In Orange County, the Orange County Living Wage project was recently launched. This organization also provides certification for private and public entities providing a living wage to employees. Orange County government was one of the first employers to be certified by this group. Orange County Living Wage calculates the living wage in the same manner as the Just Economics program where the living wage is tied to the cost of housing. Even though Orange County Living Wage uses a formula that is different from the County's, the County's current rate qualified for certification. The County's current living wage rate is $12.76 per hour for employees while the Orange County Living Wage project has established a rate of$12.75. Page 1 3 7 Policy Considerations and Next Steps 1. Calculation Methodology The County has historically used a living wage formula that is driven by the Federal Poverty Level for a family of four, adjusted for costs in the region. While reliance on the poverty level is common and is used to determine eligibility for several federal programs, it is frequently criticized for using outdated metrics and lacking local cost sensitivity. Conversely, the fair market rent calculation is often viewed as being sensitive to local economic conditions by recognizing differences in local housing costs, but it typically does not account for variations in family size. In terms of impact on the wage rate, the market rent based formula would have yielded a higher rate for this fiscal year. The federal poverty rate calculation traditionally used by the County would have produced a rate of $12.53 per hour. Orange County Living Wage's living wage rate is$12.75. 2. Cost Analysis for Service Contracts As stated above, the County could adopt a living wage policy that applies to service contracts and construction contracts under $30,000 when a bid is not solicited. However, the County has not conducted a comprehensive analysis of service contracts that would quantify the cost impact and also identify policy considerations. For example, policies in other jurisdictions exempt certain providers from the living wage requirement. These exemptions typically apply to small firms or non- profit organizations where the requirement may be viewed as onerous. Developing a more complete profile of existing service contracts and providers would offer additional context for policy development. Staff would begin this analysis immediately in preparation for another presentation to the Board of County Commissioners. This presentation would occur prior to the completion of the County Manager's recommended budget so that any additional costs associated with policy implementation could be included if a policy is authorized by the Board at that time. Page 14 Attachment 2 8 Memorandum 1== I' To: John Roberts CC: Bonnie Hammersley From: Cheryl Young Re: Living Wage I k Per the request of County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, I attempted to contact North Carolina ( jurisdictions with living wage requirements for contractors to gather information regarding their programs. As you experienced,I was not successful in gathering information in that manner. I did locate some information online that offers insight into some of the programs. Specifically,the City of Durham enacted a Livable Wage Ordinance in January of 1998. The ordinance requires that employees of Contractors and subcontractors of the City receive at least the minimum i hourly wage paid to its employees. The provision only applies to those contracts for services to the City and its agencies which the City could provide for itself with its own employees and does not include G contracts governed by state or federal procurement or bidding requirements or those whose services are performed by non-profit,tax exempt organizations. As such, nonprofits generally are not covered by the livable wage requirement,although there is a provision allowing the City to proactively make a contract with a nonprofit subject to the provision IF the City could have provided the contracted service with its own employees. The goal of the ordinance is to make certain that the living wage requirement is not circumvented by hiring outside contractors to fulfill tasks. That ordinance appears to apply the living wage only to employees working on the contract. The City also appears to rely upon the Contractors workers to report violations to the City. A copy of the ordinance is attached for your review. Although the City f Durham appears to still be using a livable wage ordinance,the County of Durham �r Y has,in light of the legislation restricting it's applicability to exclude contracts subject to state or federal procurement or bidding requirement's,eliminated the applicability of their living wage ordinance to contractors,opting instead to expand their living wage ordinance to part-time and seasonal workers. . Prior to the change,the County included the requirement in their contracts and required quarterly reports from the contractor. The year prior to the ordinance's revision,the County noted that the policy only applied to 81 out of over 800 contracts. It appears the provision applied only to employees doing work on the County contract. Durham County also, however,exempted service contracts with non-profit groups from the living wage requirement.A copy of the Durham County revised policy is r attached. i= I a • 9 ° ORDINANCE #11333 Attachment 8 { AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING THE PAYMENT OF A LIVEABLE WAGE. WHEREAS, ACCORDING to the 1990 U.S. Census, 14.9% of the residents of the City of Durham live in poverty; and WHEREAS, it is beneficial to the health and welfare of Durham's citizens to be paid a liveable wage which enables them to not live in poverty; and WHEREAS, the City's economic development provides many benefits for citizens of Durham, one of which should be liveable wages for all working people; and k_ I? WHEREAS, this ordinance providing.for a liveable wage is consistent with other programs operated by the City to meet the employment and economic development needs of persons of low and-moderate income; and WHEREAS, the City desires to use its authority to 'procure services in combination with its authority to pursue economic development; WHEREAS, it is the purpose of this ordinance to provide for a liveable hourly . wage rate for workers employed by vendors who are awarded service contracts by the City, and thus enhance the welfare of working citizens of Durham; now I; therefore, ,r r BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CiTY OF DURHAM: i F, Section 1. This ordinance shall appear as Chapter 27 of the Code of the City of Durham, and shall be entitled, "Liveable Wage,"with the text of the ordinance to i appear as follows: Sec. 27-1. Service Contracts with the City. -it shall be the policy of the City of Durham that all Service Contractors doing business with the City pay their workers an hourly wage while working on City Service Contracts such that, if annualized, a person working forty (40) hours per week will earn enough money to support a family of four above the poverty level, as poverty is defined by the Bureau of Census. i Sec. 27-2. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning: (a) CITY COUNCIL: the City Council of the City of Durham, North Carolina. r 10 (b) CITY MANAGER: the City Manager of the City of Durham, North Carolina, or his or her designee. (c) LIVEABLE WAGE: the minimum hourly wage rate that shall be paid to those who work on Service Contracts with the City. (d) PERSON: any individual, business entity, corporation, limited liability company (LLC), partnership or joint venture. (e) SERVICE CONTRACT: a contract designated by the City Manager as a service contract subject to this ordinance. These shall include only those contracts for services to the City and its agencies which the City could provide for itself with its own employees, should it decide to do so, and shall not include contracts governed by State or Federal procurement or bidding requirements, or those where services are performed by non- profit, tax-exempt organizations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may make a determination that a contract with a non-profit tax exempt organization is one for which the City could have provided the contracted service with its own employees, and that upon such determination 'the contract shall be subject to the provisions of this ordinance. (f) SERVICE- CONTRACTOR: the Person awarded a City Service Contract, specifically including all subcontractors of Service Contractors. (g) SERVICE WORKER: any employee of. a Service Contractor, as defined by the City(Manager. Sec. 27-3 Administration of the Liveable Wage. (a) Each Service Contractor shall pay its employees working on City Service Contracts a Liveable Wage during those hours that the employees work on City Service Contracts. (b) The City of Durham has determined that it is an important goal to ensure that employees of its Service Contractors earn a Liveable Wage, and has therefore made'it mandatory that contractors bidding on City Service Contracts comply with this ordinance. In order to accomplish the statutory objectives of this ordinance, the City narrows its pool of eligible contractors, because some contractors will not be eligible for consideration for such contracts. Therefore, when a Service Contractor who has been awarded a City Service Contract subject to this ordinance fails to fulfill the requirements of this ordinance, the City suffers damages. The precise dollar amount of those damages is difficult to ascertain. Therefore, all Service Contracts falling under this ordinance shall include language in substantial conformance with the following paragraph-. r k "In the event of a finding by the City Manager or a judicial officer that any Service Worker has been paid less than the compensation to which the Service Worker is entitled under the City's liveable wage ordinance, Contractor .shall make restitution to the Service Worker for the amount due. Contractor shall also pay liquidated damages to the City in the amount of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per day for each employee so underpaid, provided, however, that these damages shall not be assessed for wage underpayment violations to any individual which amount to a total of less than One Dollar ($1.00) in any payroll period. Should a Service Worker be found to have been discriminated against for seeking to enforce the provisions of the City's Liveable Wage ordinance, and if the Service Worker has been terminated from employment, he or she shall be reinstated upon an order to do so from the City Manager or a judicial officer. A flyer stating the City of Durham's Liveable Wage amount shall be posted at the workplace of every Service Contractor in a location easily seen by all employees." (c) When a Service Contractor has been found to have failed to pay a Liveable Wage in the course of performing more than three separate Service Contracts in a two year period, the City Manager may prohibit that Service Contractor from participating in future Service Contracts,for up to three years. (d) Within one year from the date of work performed on a Service Contract, a Service Worker may file a protest in writing with the City Manager claiming that the amount of wages paid to that worker on that Service Contract was less than.the Liveable Wage at the time the work was performed. (e) A Service Contractor shall not discharge, reduce the compensation or otherwise discriminate against any Service Worker for seeking to enforce the provisions of this ordinance. -Actions.protected under this ordinance include, but are not limited to, making a complaint to the City Manager, participating in any City proceedings, or making use of any civil remedies. If any violation of this paragraph is found to have occurred, the City Manager may order appropriate restitution and the reinstatement of such Service Worker, in accordance with the terms of the Service Contract. (f) The City may withhold or cause to be withheld from the Service Contractor so much of any accrued payments owed to the contractor as may be necessary to: (1) pay the Service Workers employed by the Service Contractor the full amount of wages required by the provisions of this ordinance; and (2) satisfy any liability of the contractor for liquidated damages accrued under the terms of the Service Contract. The City may also withhold payments from any Service. Contractor who has failed to post and keep posted a copy of the Liveable Wage as required herein, until such default of the Service Contract's terms shall have been corrected. 12 (g) The City Manager shall cause investigations to be made as may be necessary to determine whether there has been compliance with the provisions of this ordinance, the regulations promulgated thereunder, and those contained in the Service Contract. The Service Contractor shall permit representatives of the City to observe work being performed upon the work site, to interview Service Workers and to examine the books and records relating to the payrolls on the project being investigated to determine the correctness of classifications and any payment of proper regular and overtime rates as required. All such information provided by the Service Contractor will be treated as confidential, to the extent permitted by Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes, the Public Records Law, as it may be amended from time to time. Complaints of alleged violations shall be investigated promptly and statements, written or oral, made by a Service Worker shall be treated as confidential and shall not be disclosed to the Service Contractor without the consent of the Service Worker. (h) If necessary for the enforcement of this heading, the City Manager may issue subpoenas, compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, records, and documents relating to payroll records necessary for investigations and hearings. Any such subpoena shall be served by the sheriff of Durham County. In case of refusal to obey or fully comply with any such subpoena, the person not complying may be summoned before the General Court of Justice, and upon failure to give satisfactory explanation of such failure or refusal, the court shall find the failure to be a misdemeanor violating Section 19 of the Durham City Charter, such violation punishable by a fine not exceeding $100 per day or imprisonment for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days. In addition, the General Court of Justice may issue any civil orders. as may be within its jurisdiction in order to enforce subpoenas issued under this ordinance. Sec. 27-4. Intentional Violation a Misdemeanor. In the event the City Manager shall determine, after notice and hearing, that any Service Contractor has failed to pay the Liveable Wage or has otherwise violated the provisions of this heading and that such failure was intentional, no contract shall be awarded to such Service Contractor, or to any business in which such Service Contractor has an interest, until one year has elapsed from the date of such determination. Provided, further, that any such intentional violation of the provisions of this heading shall be a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine of not more than Five Hundred ($500.00). Proceedings before the City Manager shall not be considered a pre-condition to criminal prosecution under this heading. Each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense. 13 Sec. 27-5. Setting the Liveable Wage Rate. The Liveable Wage rate shall be the minimum hourly wage rate that is paid to City of Durham employees, as it may be revised from time to time by resolution of the City Council. Sec. 27-6. Severability. j If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or fin: circumstances is held invalid, the- invalidity shall not affect other provisions or application of the chapter which can be given effect without F the invalid provision or application; and to this end, the provisions of this chapter are severable. Section 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, *that this ordinance shall take L effect for all Service Contracts entered into after February 1, 1998. i i C.Wy Documents\Uveabte Wage ord..doc 115W APPROVED B A COUNCIL "Cl 14 �I POLICY ON PAYING A LIVING WAGE WHEREAS, the County of Durham adopted a Policy on Paying a Living Wage effective July 1, 2004,which policy addressed minimum wage requirements for County employees as well as certain contractors providing services to the County; and WHEREAS, recent legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly prohibits the use of minimum wage requirements such as those contained in Durham County's Living Wage Policy on any competitively bid contract,see S.L. 2013-41; and f" WHEREAS,the County competitively bids all services costing over$30,000; and WHEREAS, because S.L. 2013-413 invalidates a portion of the current Living Wage G G Policy, the County wishes to amend the policy to address minimum wage requirements just for County employees. NOW, THEREFORE, THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR THE COUNTY OF E DURHAM DOTH RESOLVE: k That the Durham County Policy on Paying a Living Wage, is hereby amended in its entirety to read as follows: 1.Living Wage Policy. It is the policy of the County of Durham that persons working for the County be paid a living wage as further described in this policy. C 2.Payment of Minimum Compensation to Employees. r w a.A Minimum Wage Rate shall be paid to all full and part-time employees of the County, including seasonal and employees in the job placement program with the County. The Minimum Wage Rate shall be at least seven and one-half percent (7.5%) above the Federal Poverty Guidelines, as defined by the Bureau of Census, for a family of four. This rate shall be determined by annualizing the hourly rate paid to employees if such employees were working a forty-hour work week. i r b. The County Manager shall calculate or cause to be calculated the Minimum Wage Rate for employees on a yearly basis and shall make such adjustments in the County's pay plan to ensure the Minimum Wage Rate as stated herein is paid to all eligible employees. c. This Minimum Wage Rate to be paid by the County of Durham shall not apply to fall- time or part-time volunteers, or others who are not paid a wage by the County. d. This Minimum Wage Rate to be paid by the County of Durham shall not apply to full- time or part-time students/interns who are working for the County in positions designed to further the student's education. 3.Effective Date. This policy shall be effective on and after October 14,2014. Attachment 3 15 Dollar Thresholds in North Carolina �. I UNC Public Contracting Statutes SCHOOL GOVERNMEE NT Dollar limits and statutory authority current as of September 1,2013 11111111 Formal bidding (estimated cost of contract) Construction or repair contracts $500,000 and above G.S.143-129 Purchase of apparatus,supplies,materials,and equipment $90,000 and above G.S.143-129 Informal bidding (actual cost of contract) Construction or repair contracts $30,000 to formal limit G.S.143-131 Purchase of apparatus,supplies,materials,and equipment $30,000 to formal limit G.S.143-131 Construction methods authorized for building projects Over$300,000 G.S.143-128(a1) Separate Prime (estimated cost of project) Single Prime Dual Bidding Construction Management at Risk(G.S. 143-128.1) Design-Build and Design-Build Bridging(G.S. 143-128.1A;G.S. 143-128.18) Public Private Partnership(P3)(G.S. 143-128.1C) Historically Underutilized Business(HUB)requirements Building construction or repair projects —Projects with state funding(verifiable 10%goal required) $100,000 or more G.S.143-128.2(a) —Locally funded projects(formal HUB requirements) $300,000 or more G.S.143-128.2(j) —Projects in informal bidding range(informal HUB requirements) $30,000 to$500,000* G.S.143-131(b) *Note:Formal HUB requirements should be used for informally bid projects costing between$300,000and$500,000 Limit on use of own forces(force account work) (not to exceed) G.S.143-135 Construction or repair projects $125,000(total project cost)or $50,000(labor only cost) Bid bond or deposit Construction or repair contracts(atleast5%of bid amount) Formal bids($500,000 and above) G.S.143-129(b) Purchase contracts Not required Performance/Payment bonds Construction or repair contracts(100%of contract amount) Each contract over$50,000 of G.S.143-129(c); project costing over$300,000 G.S.44A-26 Purchase contracts Not required General contractor's license required $30,000 and above G.S.87-1 Exemption Force account work(see above) Owner-builder affidavit required Force account work(see above) G.S.87-14(a)(1) Use of licensed architect or engineer required Nonstructural work $300,000 and above G.S.133-1.1(a) Structural repair,additions,or new construction $135,000 and above Repair work affecting life safety systems $100,000 and above Selection of architect,engineer,surveyor,construction manager at risk,or design-build contractor "Qualification-Based Selection"procedure(QBS) All contracts unless exempted G.S.143-64.31 Exemption authorized Only projects where estimated G.S.143-64.32 fee is less than$50,000 From A Legal Guide to Purchasing and Contracting for North Carolina Local Governments,2nd ed.,by Frayda S.Bluestein, ©2004 by the School of Government,The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.All rights reserved.