SEATAC, Wash. (KING5) -- One year after voters in the City of SeaTac agreed to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour, city leaders have noticed little impact on the overall economy.
An estimated 1,500 total workers saw their minimum wage increase under the new law. Around 400 actually live in the city limits.
City manager Todd Cutts says there has been no impact on sales tax or property tax, and no measurable change in the number of business licenses issued.
The law requires hoteliers with more than 100 rooms to pay workers $15 an hour. Scott Ostrander, former general manager of the Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac, argued during the campaign that he would close several rooms in his hotel to avoid having to comply. Now, Cedarbrook Lodge is moving forward with a 63-room expansion and recently started paying the $15 per hour minimum wage.
WallyPark says it's had "the best year ever" and it's very supportive of the minimum wage ordinance
Most businesses owners are staying quiet about the impacts on their bottom line, but according Paul Guppy, researcher at the Washington Policy Center in Seattle, some employers are now removing benefits like free meals and free parking to make up for the wage increase.
"We're not seeing the big benefits that proponents said we would, because so few people are affected," said Guppy. "And at the same time, it's not having a ripple effect through the economy. It just affects so few jobs, it's not having much impact."
A state Supreme Court decision expected soon will determine whether Port of Seattle workers at Sea-Tac Airport will be included in the wage increase. That would bump the number of employees impacted by the $15 per hour minimum wage to around 6,500.
Seattle is phasing in a $15 per hour minimum wage over the next several years. The next increase is to $11 per hour starting in April.
