Local Business Owners React To Minimum Wage Increase
Follow CBS13 on Facebook | Instagram
Follow Good Day on Facebook | Instagram
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Millions of California works will ring in the New Year with a raise.
The minimum wage is now $10.50, and over the next five years, it will incrementally go up to $15 by 2022.
J.R.'s Texas Bar-B-Que has been a staple in Sacramento now for 30 years.
"It really doesn't have anything to do with the cost it's are you consistent?" said the owner, Floyd "J.R." Rothenberger Jr.
ALSO READ: Dozens Arrested In Minimum Wage Protests Across The US
Through inflation, he managed to keep costs down by hiring the right people.
"Be more efficient and what they're doing. They may have 10 employees, but there's maybe only three of them are working," he said.
He says that's how he's already able to pay his employees $15 an hour.
But he believes other businesses with more employees may suffer from an increase in minimum wage, bu many people we spoke with also feel the increase is much needed.
"It should have been happening all along for much longer than it has. They're playing catch-up now," said Folsom resident Kevin Bouck.
"You can't live off $10.50 because, after taxes and everything, you'll have to work two jobs," said Jason Goodlin of Fairfield.
ALSO READ: Wages, Turtle Doves Drive Up Price Of 12 Days of Christmas Gifts To $34,363
Meanwhile, experts say get ready to pay anyway. They say their increased costs will ultimately increase the cost of food and your bill. That, or business will have to cut back on employees.
"They can make more money if they're more efficient," J.R. said.
He says the secret to his business success is in how you treat your patrons and equally your employees.
"If these people are working for you, then you treat them with the same respect you want them to give you," he said.
California isn't the only state that saw a minimum wage increase at the first of the year. Twenty other states kicked off 2017 with pay raises for minimum wage workers.