Oregon workers get minimum wage hike, pay new transit tax

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 more populated counties, including Marion, Polk and Deschutes, also 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 one-tenth of 1 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