The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 today to formally adopt a minimum wage ordinance that will raise hourly pay in unincorporated areas to $15 per hour by 2020.
Supervisors Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich cast the dissenting votes. Two weeks ago, they independently proposed exempting nonprofit businesses, seasonal workers and some employees in training from the wage increase, but failed to gain sufficient support.
The ordinance gives businesses with 25 or fewer employees an additional year to reach the $15 hourly pay rate.
The board initially approved the county wage hike on July 21. A series of increases are planned over five years, beginning July 1, 2016, and reaching $15 an hour by 2020. The wage will go to $10.50 in July 2016, $12 in July 2017, $13.25 in July 2018, $14.25 in July 2019, and then to $15 the following year.
After 2022, the wage will be adjusted annually based on the cost of living.
Knabe opposed tying the minimum wage to a cost-of-living index, saying it would limit the county’s flexibility in difficult financial times and hurt small businesses.
