“We employ about 23 full and part-time employees to care for between 105-110 children from infants to school age. Child care centers a few years ago could be profitable, but as the years passed and Washington minimum wages increased to well over the federal levels, the profits have disappeared. Next to disappear will be the centers and their employees, who will all be out of work. Parents will be forced to find child care at in-home providers or grandparents.
For 2017, we project that our annual payroll costs will increase enough to eliminate any profit and possibly put us in the red. We have no way to cover the subsequent years wage level increases starting in 2018, and probably face laying off all of our workers and closing up for good.”