Minimum wage workers in Lexington could see a jump in their paychecks if the city’s Urban County Council carries through with a wage hike that received preliminary approval Tuesday.
With debate still simmering on council and in Louisville, the first city in the state to heed President Obama’s call to up the pay floor, a minimum wage bump just cleared its first major hurdle.
A divided council voted to place a three-year phased-in $10.10 minimum wage increase on the docket. A compromise that exempts tipped workers and does not tether the wage to the consumer price index, the ordinance failed to gain the support of Councilman Bill Farmer - who expressed concern back in June that the city could be jumping the gun.
"If there were a statewide initiative or a nationwide initiative, there is nothing wrong with this issue," he told WUKY. "Us, as an independent municipality who depends upon the trading area around which we are a part of, this would set a really tough precedent I believe and personally I am not there yet."
Farmer was joined by five other council members, some of whom worry the change will attract court challenges as it has down the road in Louisville. Business advocates have questioned the city’s legal grounds to unilaterally raise the wage, taking their case to the state Supreme Court. Eight Lexington council members voted in favor of the increase.
A final vote on Lexington’s wage hike could come in the next few weeks.
