Solon opts out of Johnson County minimum wage increase

SOLON - City council members unanimously voted Wednesday to opt out of a Johnson County ordinance that will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017.

'The timeline, even though some people say it's stretched out, it's relatively short for a business to react to that,” said council member Mark Prentice. 'So to think there's no consequences to the issue is naive and not being honest.”

The Johnson County ordinance, approved by supervisors last week, will increase the minimum wage in three stages beginning November 1. Under Iowa law, municipalities have the ability to opt out of the county ordinance, as long as cities keep the wage at the state mandated level of $7.25.

Prentice said council members spoke with nearly all Solon business owners ahead of Wednesday's meeting, and most employers said a majority of workers already earn at least $10.00 an hour. Prentice said he worried a countywide increase would create a ripple effect, leading those workers to also ask for a pay raise.

'Even though they don't have employees at $7.25, every person needs a bump,” Prentice said. 'If you start people at $10, they have people at $10 that have been working there for a year, you have to bump that person to $12 or $14.”

One business owner told council members he will uphold the county raise despite the council's vote.

'I will give the minimum wage raise to my employees, current and future employees, whether we have to do it or not,” said Diego Rivera, co-owner of Mexican restaurant Frida Kahlo. 'I believe it's the fair thing to do, they're a hard working group of people. They're working harder for less amounts of money.”

The council voted to roll this ordinance into one vote, instead of considering three separate readings. Council members also voted to approve a wage increase of $1.00 an hour for a public works specialist position.

The Swisher City Council also will consider an ordinance to opt out of the county increase at its October 12 meeting.