Minneapolis appears poised to become the latest city to implement a minimum hourly wage of $15. City Council will likely vote on the minimum wage ordinance by the end of the summer, with the outcome looking relatively set.

Most members of the Minneapolis City Council support the wage hike with no tip credit, but this decision could be potentially harmful to local businesses, specifically restaurants and servers. A tip credit would be more beneficial for both servers and restaurant owners. Most servers currently make more than $15 an hour with tips, so it wouldn’t be an issue for most servers to meet the minimum wage requirement.

Passing a law that outlaws a tip credit will potentially force restaurants to cut staff and raise prices due to the increase in wages they have to pay. A tip credit would lessen the unfair disparity between the wages of servers and back of house staff, and continue to support tipping culture in Minneapolis, resulting in better service.

Most importantly, there are more people kept employed. There are, certainly, unforeseen effects in raising the minimum wage; cities that have passed laws for a higher minimum wage are still watching to see how this change will affect the economies of their cities in the long run.

While it is important to take care of our citizens and do our best to ensure everyone is treated fairly, this also includes the owners of businesses — especially local and family-owned businesses that will be most jostled by the change. It’s our city’s responsibility to ensure the conversion goes over as smoothly as possible.