Raising rates on commercial handyman contracts: $75/hr too much?

I've been doing handyman work for office buildings in the Chicago area my whole career, mostly fixing loose door hinges, patching drywall, and installing those basic IKEA-style shelving units for break rooms. Lately, material costs have gone through the roof, like Benjamin Moore paint jumping 20% in a year, and I'm tired of eating it on flat-rate jobs that drag on. So I bumped my rate from $60 to $75 an hour for commercial gigs, and half my repeat clients are balking, saying it's highway robbery for 'simple fixes.' Saw a similar rant in Handyman Nation group where a guy got blacklisted for the same thing. Tommy Mello talks about this in his videos, saying you gotta own your value or go broke, but damn, these property managers act like they're entitled to free labor. IMO, if they want cheap, hire the TaskRabbit kids who half-ass it. Who's with me on not backing down?

Man, same boat here with the pushback, feels like every client thinks handyman work is pocket change.

Screw those property managers, they're the worst, always lowballing while sitting in their corner offices counting our money.

Felt that, been eating costs on commercial patching jobs for months.

Try quoting T&M upfront with a minimum, explains the increase without the fight, worked for my office fixture installs.

Add a line item for material surcharges, like 15% on top of paint and hardware, keeps it transparent and covers the BS inflation.

Hit $120k last year after raising to $80/hr on commercial, best move ever, clients who stay are the good ones anyway.