Chamber opposes 92 percent hike in city's per-employee wage fee
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce is leading a business coalition against a proposal to raise the Minimum Wage Ordinance User Fee from $1.47 to $2.82 per employee a year. The measure has cleared the Budget Committee and heads to the full City Council.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce is leading a coalition of business groups opposing a proposed 92 percent increase in the city's Minimum Wage Ordinance User Fee, which would lift the annual charge from $1.47 to $2.82 per employee, the Chamber said this week.
The fee is folded into the annual business license and funds enforcement of San Diego's Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance. Since it took effect on July 1, 2025, every business with one or more employees working within city limits has paid $1.47 per worker, with the money supporting the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement; sole proprietors with no employees are exempt, according to a city fact sheet.
The Chamber's objection is not to enforcement itself, which it says is important, but to the size and speed of the increase. The group says the city has offered no clear justification for nearly doubling the fee one year after it was adopted, and that businesses were not consulted before the proposal advanced.
The Chamber also frames the fee as part of a larger pileup, arguing that rising city fees and regulatory costs are landing on employers all at once. For a business with 20 employees, the annual fee would rise from $29.40 to $56.40.
What happens next
The proposal has passed the city's Budget Committee and now heads to the full City Council for consideration, according to the Chamber. The group says it will continue pressing its case with council members and the City Attorney's office as the measure moves forward.
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