Sacramento Approves $12.50 Minimum Wage By 2020, So What's Next?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — After a contentious Sacramento City Council vote, the city's minimum wage will go to to $12.50—$2.50 more than the state rate—by 2020.
For those that run businesses like Jim Relles of Relles Florist, it's a tale of two cities, or in this case jurisdictions.
"We'll probably maybe lay somebody off, or cut their hours back," he said.
He'll be required to steadily increase his minimum wage to $12.50 an hour by 2020.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do that, to absorb the cost," he said.
Over in what many would consider South Sacramento, business owner Marcus Gomez operates his clothing recycling center. Being a block outside of city limits in Sacramento County, he'll only be required to pay his employees the state minimum wage of $10 starting in January.
"To some extent I am relieved that I am in the county," he said.
Gomez was selected to give his input as a county business owner on the city's minimum wage task force. He said while he would have liked to see the state address the issue, he's happy to hear it's not the originally proposed $15 an hour.
"I thought we did a really good job of coming together and compromising, and that is what it was about," he said.
But, he thinks the decision could push business outside of the city limits.
"They may want to relocate to the county," he said. "They may want to go out of state."
While business owners like Relles crunch the numbers, minimum wage workers like Tracy Franklin are ecstatic. He's one of an estimated 80,000 minimum-wage workers in the city.
"When I heard about the minimum wage increase it put a smile on my face and it put a smile on everybody else," he said.
He said with more money, people like him will be able to stimulate the economy.