The City of Minneapolis issued a request on Thursday for consultants to conduct an economic analysis to determine the broad effects of a citywide minimum wage increase.
 
The city has proposed phasing in a minimum wage of $12 or $15 per hour over five years, but wants to determine the impacts.
 
The proposal is expected to answer a variety of questions. Those areas of focus include:

• how the minimum wage increase will impact Minneapolis, as well as Hennepin and Ramsey counties, once it is annually indexed to inflation
• the potential ripple effect on local economies in the seven county metro area (Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Washington, Carver, Scott and Dakota)
• which occupations and worker demographics that will be most impacted
• which industries/sectors that will be most impacted
• an analysis of potential job creation/job loss
• an analysis of business retention/business loss
• a breakdown of options on enforcing the minimum wage hike
• the services that the project team will provide
• how the costs to perform the study will be divided

The city is allocating no more than $150,000 for the study to be performed over a three-month period starting next year — from January 1 to March 31. The contract does include an option to extend the study for two additional months in case a further depth of information needs to be gathered.
 
Deadlines for RFP submission are due on December 1. The city expects to choose a consultant by December 18.