City of Atlanta considers raising minimum wage

ATLANTA — Some Atlanta leaders say it's time to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but there's concern over whether the city can afford it.

Channel 2’s Dave Huddleston asked followers on Twitter if they thought Atlanta should increase the minimum wage, and 55 percent said no to an increase while 45 percent said yes.

Joe Bednarz, who delivered pizza's part time last year says raising the minimum wage for Atlanta city workers from $10 an hour to $15 an hour is a good idea.

Antione Lowe agrees. %

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"It will give a lot of people a better way to do things for the community and their family, so I think that would be a great thing," Lowe said. "

City Councilmember Felicia Moore is pushing for the $5 raise for minimum wage city workers.

Moore says if the raise at the bottom may also lift everyone's salary.

“If we do it we may have to raise other people as well so you don't have a compression issue so those things need to be looked at,” Moore said.

"Process is important to me,” City Councilmember Andre Dickens said.

So important, Dickens says, the issue should be studied first.

"I want to make sure we can afford it, that we don't have any loss in services or any furloughs that is totally not what we want to have happened,” Dickens said.

Dickens supports the possible jump in pay, but doesn't want it to come at a cost.

"It's a balancing act of costs and benefits,” Dickens said.

The City council will vote on the issue in two weeks and if it passes Dickens' study will take about two months.

Cox Media Group