Wake County requiring companies to pay a living wage in order to benefit from taxpayer dollars

Wake County is now requiring companies to pay employees a certain wage if they want to benefit from taxpayer dollars.

The county offers those tax incentives to attract companies and jobs.

Those incentives have helped bring in Apple, Amgen, Fujifilm-Diosynth and most recently Forge Battery, which makes lithium ion batteries.

Over the last five years, Wake County has paid out nearly $4.9 million dollars to companies. All this is part of how the county is changing the requirements for how your tax dollars are spent.

Construction is underway on drugmaker Amgen’s facility in Holly Springs. This is one of 18 companies the county has offered tax incentives to over the last five years.

Now, there’s a new minimum companies have to pay their employees to tap into taxpayer dollars.

Most of these groundbreaking celebrations for big name corporations come about because of promises of tax incentives from Wake County.

"We’ve always wanted to recruit high quality jobs to Wake County, and we want folks who work in Wake County be able to live in Wake County," said Wake County Assistant County Manager Michael James.

That's become tougher for many workers with inflation and the rising cost of living in Wake County.

Now, the county is changing the minimum companies must pay employees if they want to maximize tax incentives. A new set of tax incentives require companies pay the county's living wage.

That's $21.14 an hour or roughly $44,000 a year.

The county is also offering a new upward mobility bonus for companies that offset childcare and transportation costs, provide tuition assistance, or offer second chance hiring.

That removes criminal convictions from being an automatic barrier to employment.

"Some of the jobs that are more entry-level provide opportunities and have lower barriers to entry for folks that are trying to get a foot in the door and move up within a company," James said.

Commissioner Matt Calabria said these changes will make it easier for the county to attract businesses that pay well and offer opportunities for employees to move up.

"Everyone is welcome to come here, but we are going to be clear about the use of our taxpayer dollars to make sure it benefits everyone in our economy," Calabria said.

The county is also trying to recruit more corporate headquarters. Companies that do that can get a new tax incentive if they invest at least $5 million and create at least 35 jobs.

The living wage is based on how much a person would need to make in order to spend no more than 30% of their income on housing in Wake County.