For the second-straight year, Selma city employees may have a few dollars in their pocket by December.

Shortly after giving employees a one-time raise, or bonus, in December from a half-cent tax fund, city officials guaranteed a second-straight raise in 2014. The council also passed a measure in March that prevents spending from the half-cent tax once it dips below $450,000 — the approximate cost of a one-time raise for all employees.

But now the council is considering giving a permanent raise.

“Nothing can be done without a strong foundation and the workers are the strong foundation for the City of Selma,” Ward 8 Selma City Councilman Michael Johnson said. “We need to be able to take care of the workers because some of them really need to get a pay increase. If the funds are not there then we won’t be able to do it, but with that being said, we will do something by the end of the year.”

One proposal being considered by the city council would raise the pay rate for all employees earning minimum wage or $7.25 per hour to $9.50. It’s estimated a permanent raise would cost $800,000 more per year — nearly double what the city paid in raises in 2013 — according to Selma Mayor George Evans.

During a recent council meeting, Evans said raising the pay scale for a select group would be inequitable for some.

“Some of the employees at the low end would be greater than the ones that are already at the higher end of pay,” he said.

According to the city’s 2013-2014 payroll, 59 employees earn minimum wage. Many of the employees who earn minimum wage are labeled as general laborers or clerks.

More than 100 earn between $7.25 and $9.50. Titles of employees earning from just above minimum wage to $9.50 vary widely, but include truck drivers, firefighters and secretaries.

The measure is currently in the council’s administrative committee, where members will consider multiple options and decide whether the city should give a one-time or a permanent raise.

“You have to consider the morale of the employees,” Bowie said. “Some of our employees are at the $9.50 mark now. We will not be able to do both.”

Bowie said the council may choose to give a permanent increase, but at a lower level than $9.50.

Ward 5 Selma City Councilman Sam Randolph has been an outspoken proponent of giving a raise. During the council’s April 22 meeting, he talked at length about the pay rate for the city’s court clerks compared to other cities.

“I have been trying to find a city clerk, other than in Selma, that makes minimum wage,” Randolph said. “It seems like they are the lowest paid clerks in the state of Alabama. I have been calling around and checking with other cities and haven’t been able to find one that pays their city as little as us.”

Uniontown city court clerks earn $12.50 per hour, Linden clerks earn $14 per hour and Thomasville clerks earn $12 per hour, Randolph said.