SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon workers are getting a bump in the minimum wage but will also pay a new statewide transit tax.
The Statesman Journal reports that workers in the Portland area on Sunday saw the minimum wage jump to $12 per hour, or a 75-cent increase. More rural parts of the state got a 50 cent increase to $10.50. Workers in Marion and Polk counties got a 50 cent bump as the rate increases to $10.75 per hour.
The Legislature in 2016 approved a set of increases in the minimum wage until 2022, when the wage will be tied to inflation.
Oregon workers will now also pay a transit tax. The tax is .001 percent - $1 per $1,000 - and employers will withhold the tax from workers’ wages.
That tax took effect Sunday. It pays for public transportation projects and improvements statewide.
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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com
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