In the midst of record inflation, Everett minimum wage workers need a raise. For the same reason, Everett local small businesses and nonprofits are also struggling. We need to raise the wage in Everett in a responsible way, which enables employees and small businesses and non-profits to thrive.

A proposed initiative from the Everett Deserves a Raise campaign would increase Everett’s minimum wage by four dollars an hour — helping employees deal with higher costs. But what if this 24 percent increase in labor costs reduces the critical services our local nonprofits provide and caused our local small businesses to reduce their hours of operation, creating fewer hours for employees and reducing their paychecks? Suddenly, those higher costs become even harder to manage.

The good news is, Everett voters have an alternative option that avoids this unintended consequence by giving minimum wage workers a raise AND allowing small employers and nonprofits to absorb these higher costs sustainably and without dramatically curtailing current operations.

Raise the Wage Responsibly proposes raising the minimum wage to the same level as the Everett Deserves a Raise proposal, while allowing local small businesses to achieve this higher wage by including tips, health care, and retirement payments as a portion of that increase.

This reasonable, responsible model has been used successfully in other cities, including Seattle, and is a model that is workable for Everett too. Voters who want to help minimum wage workers deserve a choice that doesn’t needlessly pit the interests of employers against the interests of employees.

Inflation is breaking the budgets of Everett’s minimum wage workers, but the solution shouldn’t break the budgets of the nonprofits and local small businesses that employ these hard-working people. We can protect paychecks AND the local businesses that write them. We can raise Everett’s minimum wage in a way that’s good for employees AND their employers.

Let’s raise the wage responsibly.