DAVID HAMPTON
White Rock

Chair Derkacs and Councilors,

The desire to raise the minimum wage comes from the heart, out of concern for others, and should be honored. However, with very few county businesses offering less than the proposed minimum, and few employees receiving less, it will have little impact other than to drive some small businesses that operate on low margins to eventually close their doors. These businesses will not be able to raise their prices enough to cover an increased minimum wage and still have enough sales to be profitable.

So, instead of balancing the cost of a minimum wage hike on the backs of these small businesses, let’s continue our efforts to make Los Alamos County less expensive to live in, by, among other things, continuing to expand our housing supply in both quantity and diversity, bolstering our already existing free public transit system with increased routes and frequencies, especially after regular business hours and on weekends, and expanding our social services offerings and availability.

Thank you.