THE BERNALILLO COUNTY COMMISSION VOTES IN FAVOR OF RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE. IT PASSED ON A 3 TO 2 VOTE TUESDAY NIGHT … AS EXPECTED BY STEVE KUSH WITH THE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY. APPROVAL MEANS THE COUNTY'S MINIMUM WAGE WILL GO UP BY A DOLLAR TO 8-50 AN HOUR. IT'LL OCCUR IN TWO STAGES: THE FIRST HALF DOLLAR INCREASE TAKES EFFECT JULY 1ST; THE SECOND 50 CENTS WILL BE ADDED JANUARY 1, 2014.
KUSH AND THE BERNALILLO COUNTY GOP WERE URGING A "NO VOTE" ON THE WAGE HIKE. HE TELLS 770 KKOB THE COUNTY'S OWN ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSAL INDICATED IT COULDN'T CARRY IT BECAUSE IT WOULD RAISE COUNTY PAYROLL BY NEARLY 103 THOUSAND DOLLARS NEXT YEAR … AND 205 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS. KUSH ALSO SAYS THE COUNTY'S FINANCIAL ANALYSIS STATES THAT THE FIGURES COULD POSSIBLY BE A LOT LARGER IN THE FUTURE.
THE PROPOSAL WAS INTRODUCED EARLY THIS YEAR BY COMMISSIONER ART DE LA CRUZ.
