Town of Marion police officers will see their paychecks grow after the first of the year after the board of aldermen voted Tuesday to give officers a raise.

Effective Jan. 1, starting pay for Marion officers will jump 50 cents, from $9.50 to $10 per hour. Pay for corporals will go up by 75 cent, sergeant pay will rise $1 and captains within the department will get an additional $1.25 per hour.

The chief of police, which is a salaried position, will also receive a raise of $2,500, growing from $18,000 to $20,500 annually.

In a letter to aldermen dated Dec. 6, Mayor Larry Gill said raising police pay had been one of his priorities when taking office this summer. The raises, he said, had been coordinated with the town’s financial experts and were already included in the current year’s budget.

“During the budget process for this fiscal year, we budgeted for these specific raises but delayed putting them in effect,” Gill said in his letter. “After careful consideration and consultation with our auditor, CPA and Chief of Police – I am prepared to propose pay raises for Marion’s Finest, effective January 1, 2022.”

The raises, while not drastic, are a way to recognize the effort of the  officers and show appreciation for what they do, Gill said in his letter.

“The raises are not enormous, but I think it is imperative that we show our officers that their hard work and dedication to keeping us safe does not go unnoticed,” he said.

The board voted unanimously to approve Gill’s recommendation, with aldermen speaking in support of the police department.

“We can never pay our police enough,” Alderwoman Stacy Blalock said.

Alderwoman Tammy Young said raises for the town’s police officers were “long overdue.”

In his letter, Gill recognized that employees in the town’s other departments were also in need of a raise and said he would work with aldermen over the coming months to address pay issues for all town employees.

“While I know there are many different employees in the town of Marion that need a pay raise, I personally and professionally think this is a good place to start. These men and women come to work each day not knowing if they will return home after every traffic stop or domestic call,” he said. “Over the next several months and years, we will have time together to make sure that we are competitive in pay for all individuals that are employed by the Town of Marion.”