HURLEY -- If proposed changes to Wisconsin's prevailing wage law are enacted, area contractors with public works projects exceeding $2,000 would be required to pay wages established by the trade or region, according to officials from the Wisconsin Counties Association.

Those changes are included in Assembly Bill 75, part of Gov. James Doyle's proposed biennial state budget.

Current law sets the threshold for a single public works project at $48,000 and a public project involving multiple trades at $234,000. The proposed change in the prevailing wage law would "significantly increase the cost to counties for most highway projects and many public works projects," WCA officials said. On Tuesday, the Iron County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution opposing changes to the prevailing wage law.