The Selma City Council approved a $17.4 million budget Tuesday night  that includes a 10 percent raise for the police and fire departments.

The pay increases will cost the city approximately $528,000. The council plans to pay for them in 2017 by refinancing the 2011 pension warrant, which will result in a one-time savings of approximately $600,000.

Council President Corey Bowie and members Angela Benjamin, Greg Bjelke, Sam Randolph and B.L. Tucker voted for the 2017 budget. Bennie Ruth Crenshaw, Michael Johnson, Susan Keith and Cecil Williamson were absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

The council promised first responders a raise by Oct. 1 after Selma Police Department patrol officers called in sick last month over salaries and other issues. The raises will put the police department’s starting hourly wage over $14. The starting wage currently is $12.90.

The rest of the proposed budget is similar to this year. Except for police and fire, most other departments had near level funding for 2017.

The total proposed budget for 2017 is $17,465,774, which is up $197,879 over the current year’s budget.

The biggest departmental difference is in Information Technology, which is up $58,095 due to a correction in the total cost of contracted equipment.

The next two largest increases are in grant matches, which is up $41,000 due to grant projects, including renovations at the Selma Interpretive Center, and code enforcement, which is up $30,500 due to a part-time officer that was left out of the 2016 budget and more money for demolishing condemned houses.