Johnson County city councils pressed for time to opt out of minimum wage hike

IOWA CITY — With Johnson County's ordinance raising the local minimum wage winning approval last week, the first of three 95-cent-an-hour increases begins in less than two months.

That doesn't leave much time for the 11 local governments within the county to decide whether the higher wage thresholds will rule within their borders.

Swisher officials talked about it Monday night, and Solon officials are scheduled to take a vote on it Wednesday.

'There were some concerns voiced about both the final result of what it would mean for Swisher to have the higher minimum wage, and also concerns of how the process was conducted by Johnson County and what that means for the smaller cities,' Swisher Mayor Christopher Taylor said Tuesday. 'We're trying to be as thoughtful and deliberate as possible and this doesn't give us as much time to do that.'

A formal vote by the council is set for Oct. 12, which could include condensing the traditional three votes for an ordinance down to one.

Johnson County's ordinance will raise the minimum wage in the county in phases to $10.10 an hour by 2017, and then according to inflation afterward. The rules will apply within cities unless localities adopt their own.

No council has formally weighed in, but the Solon City Council is scheduled Wednesday to vote on an ordinance rejecting the county rules and affirming the state's $7.25 wage — set by Iowa law and matching the federal requirement.

Draft minutes from the council's Sept. 2 meeting show the council's five members expressed opposition to the county ordinance, citing the impact on businesses and the lack of an official cap to the increase.

For the county, the rule is only as strong as those participating, said Supervisor Rod Sullivan.

'I hope nobody does anything different,' he said. 'I voted for this because I think it's good for the community. having any community opt to do anything different, I think is probably not as good for the people in that community, but we don't control that.'

Business owners representing Sam's Main Street Market, Solon American Legion and Solon Station spoke at the Sept. 2 meeting, expressing concern that raising the wage would drive up prices or eliminate jobs.

'I can see their side of it, but I don't think people are thinking that hard about it — the money has to come from somewhere,' Nate Dooley, owner of Solon Station, said Tuesday.

Dooley, who employs two full-time and six part-time employees, said he would likely have to eliminate positions.

'I know that I couldn't just adjust my pricing in order to help that influx in cost,' he said.

Sullivan said he has heard the concerns raised by a handful of business owners, but said the benefits outweigh the negatives.

'I think it's going to help a lot more businesses than it's going to hurt,' he said.

For Iowa City, City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes has been tasked by the council with reaching an opinion on the likelihood of the local wage ordinance surviving a legal challenge. Dilkes said she plans to have an opinion by October.

Earlier, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness told supervisors that her office 'cannot conclude' that passing a local ordinance raising the minimum wage 'would be unconstitutional or pre-empted by state or federal law.'

Coralville Mayor John Lundell said he doesn't anticipate any formal discussion by the City Council there, but that it would wait to see if any litigation results.