The city of Pittsburgh's lawyers cautioned its council members Tuesday on potential legal perils from prevailing wage and living wage legislation, including one bill scheduled for a first vote today.

Legislation that would guarantee prevailing wages to hotel, janitorial, grocery and cafeteria workers at future city-backed development projects can't be applied to city-related authorities, according to a written opinion by Associate City Solicitor Yvonne S. Hilton. Council members want to include authorities, and excluding them could gut the bill's effectiveness, since most city development aid flows through the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The prevailing wage bill also gives the city controller more powers than the city's charter does, she wrote. In the bill as written, the controller would set prevailing wages based on the averages paid to the affected classes of workers citywide, and could appoint hearing officers to decide disputes.

A much broader living wage bill, which would set a salary floor of around $11.50 an hour for city workers, employees working on city contracts, and employees at future city-aided development sites, may violate state law, Ms. Hilton wrote. A 2006 state law that bars local minimum wages appears to apply to living wages, she wrote.

Ms. Hilton also warned that if the ordinances are shown in court to violate federal due process or equal protection laws, the city "could also face substantial attorney fees" that it would have to pay for a successful plaintiff.

The living wage legislation is sponsored by Councilman Ricky Burgess, and is set for a first vote Feb. 17.

All nine council members are sponsoring the prevailing wage bill, set for a first vote today and a final vote Feb. 2.

A coalition of labor, religious, environmental and community groups is pushing for it, while Mayor Luke Ravenstahl vetoed identical legislation last year and introduced a narrower alternative.

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