King County Council Wants $19 Minimum Wage in Some Areas

The latest proposal by the King County Council would be to raise the minimum wage in unincorporated areas of the county to $18.99. The council serves in a similar manner to many other counties who have County Commissioners.

Wage would affect businesses in a lot of cities

According to MyNorthwest.com, Councilmember Girmay Zahilay proposed the idea at the council meeting on Thursday, Sept. 8th.

Several other council members and even a handful of businesses are leading this effort. Their claim is that Seattle's minimum wage is $18.69, while in the unincorporated areas of the county, it is in line with the state wage of $15.74.

They claim that puts workers at a disadvantage. If adopted, the plan would go into effect January 1st, 2024. There would be exemptions for businesses that have fewer than 500 persons, and for companies with 15 or fewer, their wage increase would be $3 below the $18.99.

Several communities have already raised their minimum wages, including Tukwila, The City of SeaTac, and others. Some of them are as high as $19.06 per hour.

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Some of the cities that would be affected due to being in unincorporated areas include Auburn, Black Diamond, Bothell, Carnation and Burien.