Linn County minimum wage could include future increases based on Consumer Price Index

CEDAR RAPIDS - A draft of a potential Linn County minimum wage ordinance includes future increases based on the Consumer Price Index.

Board Chairman Ben Rogers presented a draft of a countywide ordinance - which the board will take the first of three required readings on Wednesday - during Monday's work session. If passed, the ordinance would raise the minimum wage from the state/federal rate of $7.25 to $10.25 by Jan. 2019. In addition, the ordinance - as written - would implement future annual increases to the local rate based on data from the Consumer Price Index's Midwest region.

The draft also states: 'In no case shall the minimum hourly wage be decreased.”

Supervisor Brent Oleson said he supports upping the minimum wage, but had reservations over the wording that the wage 'shall be increased” based on the CPI.

Oleson's concern was that such language might limit future board's flexibility with the issue.

'I don't know if I'm going to be supportive of that particular piece,” Oleson said.

Any changes can be made to an ordinance during the first and second readings, while minor changes can take place during the third and final reading.

The ordinance does provide the same exceptions to employers provided by current Iowa Code.

While some in the community have argued a minimum wage ordinance should include an exception for younger employees, Rogers disagreed.

'This ordinance does not segregate or make known a separate wage rate for minors,” Rogers said. 'I didn't feel it was appropriate to pay someone less just because they're young.”

Meanwhile, Devin Mehaffey, co-founder of Living Wage Linn County, a local group that supports raising the minimum wage, presented the board Monday with notes of support for a higher minimum wage from more than 100 area residents.

'We're counting on our supervisors to get the job done and raise the wage,” Mehaffey said in the release. 'We just hope now that our major cities will hold the line and do the right thing by upholding the county ordinance.”

Supervisors on Monday also stressed the importance of getting the buy-in from the county's many cities - namely Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha.

If a minimum wage ordinance passes the county, city councils can either follow the new rate, or pass their own counter ordinances setting a different minimum wage.

No minimum wage ordinance - city or county - can be lower than the state rate.

'I just hope the cities won't go backward or fall victim of the culture of just delaying or studying this,” Oleson said.

Last week, Polk County minimum wage task force decided on a final recommendation to the county's Board of Supervisors to raise the minimum wage to $10.75 an hour by 2019. The recommendation includes a cost of living adjustment and setting a youth wage at 85 percent of the minimum wage.

Wapello County Board of Supervisors are in the midst of three readings of a minimum wage ordinance that would begin three annual 95-cent increases on Jan. 1, 2017. The minimum rate in that county would reach $10.10 in 2019, if it passes the board.

Johnson County was the first in Iowa to adopt a higher minimum wage ordinance. The ordinance passed the five-member board last year, and this May marked the second of three 95-cent an hour increases to the county rate. On Jan. 1, it will reach $10.10 an hour. Future increases in Johnson County will be tied to the consumer price index.