Christmas has come early for city of Selma employees.

Selma Mayor George Evans announced Tuesday that the city would be awarding one-time raises to all its employees.

Department heads attended a Tuesday meeting to collect the checks for those who work in each department.

“A majority of our employees are [on] minimum wage salaries, so they work 40 hours a week for minimum dollar,” Evans said. “Until we can put in a substantial wage that’s permanent, we give the one-time raise each year to kind of help them meet their needs.”

The amount of money each employee received was based on length of service to the city.

Those employed full-time for less than a year received $200.

Full-time employees for more than one year but less than three earned $800, while part-time workers with the same tenure were paid $400.

Full-time employees who have been with the city for more than three years received $1,600, while part-time employees who have worked the same length of time earned $800.

Collectively, the one-time raises totaled more than $424,000.

The money comes from revenue generated from the half-cent sales tax the Selma City Council approved in 2013.

This will be the second year the city has approved a one-time raise. Last year, $424,277 was given in total.

In 2013, the one-time raise was given on Dec. 3, but the Selma City Council voted to move the date before Thanksgiving.

Councilwoman Angela Benjamin encouraged those who plan to use part of their raise on Christmas shopping to spend that money locally.

“It is the small businesses that are struggling here in Selma because we’re not participating economically when we go shopping,” she said. “We always get in a rush and go to somewhere else instead of finding out if what we need is at home first. Shop Selma first, and you will be surprised.”

Selma Fire Chief Mike Stokes was one of multiple department heads who expressed gratitude on behalf of his or her division.

“As one of the departments with more employees than anyone else, with just under 60, it’s a big impact,” Stokes said. “It doesn’t go under-appreciated.”