Recently we received a brochure from Tom Wolf, Democratic candidate for governor, stating Wolf will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour if elected. Another Democratic candidate, Rob McCord, pledges to raise it to $10.75.

My family started a small business that operated for several years, but after putting in many long days without pay, and after the prospects of fulfilling our venture were looking bleak, we closed it.

First, workers’ compensation insurance is charged by the amount of the payroll, and each time there is an increase in wages the rate goes up. When you raise the price of your services to compensate for this added cost, the liability insurance premiums go up because that rate is calculated by the income of the business. Add to this the property taxes and insurances, plus utilities charged at “commercial rates;” plus, you have to add the additional taxes the business owner has to pay into Social Security, unemployment and payroll taxes to cover the employees’ increased wages. All these hidden expenses add to the hourly rate per employee. So you can’t just say that the business can surely afford an additional $3 per hour when there are the extra above-mentioned expenses.

Also, the continually rising costs of inventory and supplies contribute to increased operating expenses. Businesses can charge only as much as the market will bear.

Minimum wage is not a living wage. No one can support a family on $10.10 or even $10.75 an hour. Raising the minimum wage will only hike the unemployment rate for young people, which is already high.

In his brochure, Mr. Wolf states that raising the minimum wage will create 5,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania by 2016. How is that possible? Perhaps it will be to hire more clerks to handle increasing unemployment claims and/or welfare checks.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if the federal government raises the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016, as proposed by President Barack Obama, there is a possibility of 500,000 to 1 million lost jobs nationwide.

Most business owners are willing to pay more than the average wage to employees who are contributing to the success of the business. Businessmen and women are intelligent enough to know that to keep skilled or experienced workers, they have to pay them well. Many have taken chances, even mortgaged their homes, to start businesses which create the jobs that stimulate the economy. They don’t need bureaucrats, many of whom have never held a job in the private sector, deciding what is best for their business. If the business owner is willing to take the risk associated with operating a business, he should be able to make the decisions to make it a success.

Do we really need more empty store fronts? I don’t think so — we just need to get the monkey of overregulated government off our backs.