By: Caroline Morse
Oct 16, 2019 @ 6:35 PM
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (WDVM) — Washington County officials began discussing how to address the state’s mandate to annually increase the minimum wage.
Officials are proposing a 49% increase from $10.10 to $15 in 2025. However, Chief Financial Officer Sara Greaves advised the council to not ignore the possibility of considering rate and other fee increases. If wages increase, the cost of everything in the county may increase also.
“The first thing we discussed was increasing the entire scale by 49%, that would be an estimated cost of about $30 million. Even though that seems like a fair approach, it is cost prohibitive.” said Greaves.
The council discussed several options, but one of them included looking into a 90-cent hourly increase for all employees as well as a one percent cost of living increase.
Source: https://www.localdvm.com/news/maryland/washington-county-addresses-states-minimum-wage-mandate/