King County Council raises minimum wage in unincorporated areas

People who make the least amount of money in unincorporated King County will soon get a pay bump.

On Tuesday, the King County Council voted to raise the minimum wage from $16.28 to $20.29, close to the base pay in cities like Seattle and Renton.

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The new pay rate is a few cents more than Seattle’s minimum wage — and $4 more than Washington state's. Large businesses with more than 500 employees will have to start paying the new minimum next year. Smaller businesses will get more time.

Not everyone was happy with the decision.

Thomas Reinhard, co-owner of a pizza chain in east King County, told the Council a pay hike could mean cutting staff or hours.

"It's not about me. It's not about my business partners. It's about the people who work for us, and this bill as written … it's going to decimate their income," he said. "There's no other way to say it."

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Council Vice-Chair Reagan Dunn, who voted against the wage increase, proposed an amendment that would have included workers tips as part of their total pay, or total compensation. Dunn argued that some businesses, like franchise owners could be treated as a large employer.

He said the legislation was "a meat cleaver approach — it's not particularly nuanced."

Andrew Ashiofu supported the pay raise because many of the effective jobs are held by people of color.

"A lot of trans people, especially trans Black and BIPOC people, are impacted by the minimum wage because they have limited areas where they have no discrimination to get jobs," Ashiofu argued.

Councilmember Girmay Zahilay said the vote represented "some change" but indicated there was more work to be done.

"[It's] still not a living wage," Zahilay said, "but it's a step in the right direction."