BLOOMINGTON - A Bloomington man filed an objection to the petitions seeking a referendum vote on whether the city of Bloomington should pay its employees a living wage.

Guy Hanna filed the objection this week with the Bloomington Election Commission before the deadline.

The Central Illinois Organizing Project filed the petitions earlier this month to put the question on the Nov. 4 ballot. The referendum would be nonbinding, so the city would not be compelled by the vote to make any policy changes.

A living wage - defined as the pay rate that would allow a person working a 40-hour week to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city - is about $9.81 an hour for the area, according to the petitions filed with the election commission. Minimum wage in the state is $7.75 per hour.

The organizing project has tried for several years to get the city and operators of the city-owned U.S. Cellular Coliseum to pay workers a wage that meets that guideline.

Election commission Executive Director Char Stanford said Hanna filed an objection to the validity of 422 signatures on the petition.

A hearing before the Bloomington Board of Election Commissioners is set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the McLean County Law and Justice Center.

Hanna said he would let his 63-page objection speak for itself and he would comment after Tuesday's hearing.

The organizing project filed petitions with 1,813 signatures. Stanford said 1,496 signatures are required for the referendum to remain on the ballot.

Organizing project Executive Director Don Carlson declined to comment.