On Monday, the Selma City Council will hold a work session to discuss the budget for this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

Some hefty cuts are planned for the Selma Police Department, including having officers take days off in lieu of double pay for holiday pay and holding vacant some positions.

Here’s the problem.

The plan to have officers take days off for holidays will likely cost the city more money. Many officers, such as the detective division, close down for the holidays, anyway, leaving the patrol division alone. There are about 20 patrol officers on the department’s force now. If five of those officers work a holiday and are given a day off later, then someone from patrol will have to work overtime to cover for that officer’s day off. That means, in theory, the city will have to pay two-and-a-half times to try to save money: The overtime is one-and-a-half times salary plus straight time for the officer taking a day off for the holiday. It doesn’t make sense.

Additionally, holding vacant some positions doesn’t help public safety. Currently, the police department is at 57 or 58 officers total — not just the patrol officers who ride around in the cars. A couple of years ago, a city-mandated study by a public safety expert recommended Selma have 60 officers on staff as a minimum.

Minimum.

Almost every city council member ran for election promising to shore up public safety — police protection.

Those council members should review the study of a few years ago, then ask themselves: Where else can we cut the budget?