Aurora lawmakers shot down a plan to raise the city’s minimum wage to $20 by 2027 in study session Monday.

The proposal, sponsored by Council member Alison Coombs, would have increased the city’s minimum wage gradually over the next six years, beginning at $12.60 in 2021 and $13.23 in 2022 to eventually reach $20.

“Trust that I will continue working and fighting for a more equitable and just economy in our city,” Coombs said on Twitter Monday.

The plan would have made Aurora the second city to utilize the 2019 state law allowing cities and counties to raise their own minimum wage. Denver increased its minimum wage to $15.87 an hour beginning in 2022.

Colorado’s state minimum wage currently sits at $12 an hour and is set to increase to $12.32 on Jan. 1.

In addition to Coombs, the plan was supported by council members Juan Marcano and Crystal Murillo. Seven council members dissented, with Nicole Johnston and Allison Hiltz calling for more information before being able to support the plan.

Disapproval of the plan generally revolved around claims of poor timing, with many arguing the economic distress caused by COVID-19 would make it too difficult for businesses to pay an increased minimum wage.

However, Coombs argued the pandemic’s effect on workers makes the increase necessary, pointing to employees facing eviction.

“Our workers need help,” Coombs said during the debate. “From my perspective, we need to be able to make sure all of our people are lifted up.”

A group of local labor workers gathered in front of the Aurora City Hall Sunday afternoon to protest in support of the minimum wage increase.

Colorado People’s Alliance, who organized the protest, said the community has had enough of struggling to meet basic needs and that COVID-19 has only exacerbated the community’s difficulties.

“Everyone in the Aurora community deserves to thrive not just survive,” COPA said in a statement.

City finance director Terri Velasquez said because the minimum wage rates would be higher than the state’s, monitoring would be put on the city. Velasquez estimated the enforcement costs of the proposal to be around $333,000 annually.

Velasquez said this money would likely have to come from cuts elsewhere in the budget, a difficult task as the city faces a planned revenue decline in 2021.

During the debate, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman argued that increasing the city’s minimum wage would result in higher unemployment, with employers firing those they could no longer afford to pay.

“This is just a job killer,” Coffman said. “There’s no other way to put this.”

Coombs said she’ll revise and reintroduce the minimum wage proposal, negotiating with business leaders over a lower peak wage.

Coffman remains skeptical of the redraft.

“I’m still very worried about its impact on small businesses who are struggling to survive in the middle of a pandemic and no one can predict how long it will take to recover,” Coffman said on Twitter Monday.