Lexington, Ky. – The Lexington Urban County Council voted Thursday night to raise the city’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over the course of the next three years.
Lexington becomes the second city in Kentucky to raise its minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Louisville’s metro council voted to raise its minimum wage in December, and after a series of legal challenges the wage increased to $7.75 in July. The Louisville minimum wage will increase to $9 an hour over the next three years. There is a suit challenging the validity of the Louisville wage hike before the state Supreme Court.
Many Lexington officials were monitoring Louisville’s situation before taking up the issue locally.
The new ordinance exempts tipped employees and agricultural workers. The first phase of wage increases goes into effect July 1, 2016, when the Lexington minimum wage will go to $8.20 an hour. The ordinance passed 9-6.
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