A call to increase New York State’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour is getting mixed reviews this week in Putnam County.

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senator Adriano Espaillat have proposed the additional $1.25 per hour.

Silver told an Albany news conference his plan was a “matter of dignity and crucial to the ability of working men and women to climb the economic ladder.”

Silver wants to increase the minimum wage effective Jan. 1, 2013, while indexing it to the rate of inflation each January. Restaurant workers who earn tips will experience a $1.21 per hour salary hike to $5.86 an hour under the proposal.

In the presidential campaign, Republican candidate Mitt Romney also sparked recent controversy when he suggested the minimum be indexed for inflation. Republicans typically believe that increasing the minimum wage simply causes businesses to reduce the size of their labor force, especially harming lowskilled and younger workers, for whom unemployment is higher.

Richard Osmers, proprietor of OSCOM Communications of Carmel, said many small businesses already pay more than the minimum to retain workers. “Small businesses realize the value of quality workers who deserve more. I always pay more than the minimum wage,” he said.

Meanwhile, David Robles, who owns Wireless Zone cell phone stores in Brewster, Mahopac and Patterson, forecast increasing minimum wage would “definitely affect business by resulting in less employment. Instead of hiring 10 people, an employer might hire only six or seven with the higher wage scale.”

Bill Nulk, president of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, said he believes any raise in minimum wage throughout the lower Hudson Valley would be a “moot point” because so many businesses already pay more. He did note, however, that a minimum wage hike may adversely affect entry level training positions, because fewer might be hired.

New York State Labor Department spokesman John Nelson said the state’s minimum wage has gone up 10 cents since 2007 and is lower than 18 other states: “New York’s current minimum wage translates into an annual salary of $15,000 for a 40-hour week.”

He said New York’s median annual wage is $39,000. Citing census figures, Nelson said one million of the more than 7 million New York State households earn less than $15,000 annually.

Pat Kaufmann, director of the Mahopac Public Library, is caught between what she said was a “rock and a hard place. I am in favor of increasing the minimum wage but I realize if the wage is increased, our library’s budget would be adversely impacted.”