March 29, 2024

Linn County exploring minimum wage increase

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linn County Supervisors have appointed a group of business leaders and workers to study the pros and cons of increasing the minimum wage.

Supervisors had expected the 20-member group to take up to six months to conduct their analysis, but members voted last week after only three meetings to recommend increasing the county’s minimum wage by a dollar to $8.25 an hour.

Supervisors discussed the recommendation Monday. Ben Rogers, chair of the Linn County Supervisors, says there’s no reason to rush any decisions without determining how the larger cities in the county feel about a possible increase.

“If Marion, Hiawatha and Cedar Rapids don’t want to participate that impacts the minimum wage’s impact in the community. Our next step is to reach out to those communities to tell them where we are in the process,” Rogers said.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett was chairman of the volunteers who studied the minimum wage issue and said he proposed the $8.25 compromise.