Keeping to his campaign promise, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter signed into law on Wednesday an ordinance that will lift the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Passing of the law came after a unanimous vote by the City Council — seven to zero — in favor of the increase, but without a tip credit, reports the Pioneer Press. For nearly a decade, minimum wage in St. Paul had stood still at $7.25 an hour.

Under the new rule, wages increases will be phased in starting July 2020 with the timeline businesses are given to comply dependent on employee count.

Large companies operating in St. Paul with more than 10,000 workers will have until July 2022 to pay their workers a $15 minimum. Businesses with more than 100 on staff will get one more year — until July 2023. Small businesses, or those with 100 or fewer employees, are being given until July 2025 to comply, while “micro” businesses with five or fewer staffers will have until July 2027.

The $15 minimum wage plan in St. Paul isn’t all that different from its neighbor across the Mississippi. Large businesses in Minneapolis with more than 100 employees have until July 2022 to comply, while ones under that metric have until the same month in 2024.
 

Today the City Council passed, and I immediately signed, an ordinance raising the minimum wage to $15/ hour. Not a bad day at the office. #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/bGdf3GAqSO

— Melvin Carter (@melvincarter3) November 14, 2018