People who want to have special events in Selma will have to pay for security by the hour.

On Tuesday, the Selma City Council heard a report from the mayor’s office about charging those who have events for security.

The security details cost the Selma Police Department an estimated $60,000 last year for overtime for officers, said chief of police William Riley.

“In our budget this year, we lost about $60,000, so we had to make up for that in our budget,” he told the city council.

Riley averaged the cost per hour of a police guard and a crossing guard to determine the overall cost to event holders. Now, those holding events will pay $26.70 per hour for each police officer requested and $10.89 for each crossing guard requested.

“That’s the only way as a city we are going to be able to break even and not cut us short in our police department budget,” Riley said.

The mayor’s office already has a request for a parade permit for Monday, Jan. 17, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said B.J. Smothers, administrative assistant to Mayor George Evans.