Activists seeking $15 minimum wage in Tacoma turn in signed petitions to try to get it on Nov. ballots

TACOMA -- Activists seeking to put the $15 minimum wage issue on Tacoma's November ballot turned in petitions Monday with 4,747 voter signatures, far more than the 3,160 needed.

According to the News Tribune of Tacoma, Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson said her office will now determine if the signatures are of legally registered voters and if there are duplicates -- a process that could take four to five days.

If approved, the newspaper said, that proposal will face on the ballot a competing measure endorsed by the Tacoma City Council. Mayor Marilyn Strickland and the City Council.

According to the proposed ballot measure, the News Tribune said, businesses making gross revenues of $300,000 per year or less would not have to pay a $15 minimum wage.