VIDALIA — By a vote of 3-2, the Vidalia Board of Aldermen voted to increase the pay of the mayor, chief of police and aldermen Tuesday.

The vote will increase the pay for the mayor from $55,000 to $69,500 a year, the chief of police from $40,000 to $55,000 a year and the aldermen from $250 a month to $600 a month. Aldermen will now make $7,200 a year.

When Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland took office in 1992, the mayoral salary was set at $24,000 a year, and the current $55,000 salary was set in 1995, Copeland said.

“With the increase in operating expenses, I feel that was justified,” he said.

The decision on how much to adjust the pay of the different officials was made after a survey of other municipalities the size of Vidalia and how much they pay their officials, City Manager Ken Walker said.

In Tallulah, the mayor is paid $65,500 a year, in Rayne, $69,000, in New Roads, $62,000 and in Winnfield, $60,000.

“We wanted to bring those salaries more in line with the other municipalities, but we also wanted them to reflect how well we are doing,” Walker said. “In reality, we are doing much better than some of those other towns.”

The pay increase will come from the town’s sales tax fund, which has almost doubled since 2002, Walker said.

Alderman Ricky Knapp voted against the pay raise.

“I told them that the intentions to the motion were good, and I could go along with some parts of the motion, but there was a part that I had trouble justifying,” Knapp said. “I voted against it because it was an all-or-none- type vote.”

The problem Knapp had was voting for a pay increase for the chief-of-police-elect Ronnie “Tapper” Hendricks before he even takes office.

“He’s a good man and I think he is going to do a fine job, but I would have liked to see that raise more incremented, maybe to see his pay stepped up through time,” Knapp said.

The reason the pay increase had to be placed at the level it was all at once was because of law, which states pay has to be set before elected officials take office July 1, Copeland said.

“If you don’t enact this raise, you can’t do it for another four years,” Copeland said.

That was another reason the salaries were set where they were, Walker said.

“The reality is that these were going to be the salaries for the next four years,” Walker said.

The Tuesday vote was the first increase in pay for aldermen since 1992.

Alderman Maureen “Mo” Saunders said, though she has voted down a pay raise before, she was in favor of the pay increase.

Factors she had to consider when voting were cost of living plus wear and tear on her vehicle, Saunders said.

“We don’t just meet once a month,” she said. “If someone calls you, you go check it out. I can’t tell you how much gas I went out just checking on the condition of the water.”

On that point, Knapp agreed.

“The $250 (aldermen receive) just wasn’t in line with other municipalities our size,” Knapp said.

There will likely be some constituents upset with the pay increase, but the aldermen do need some help in performing their duties, Saunders said.

“I just can’t afford to take it out of my pocket at this time,” she said.

The mayoral and police chief increases were also justified, Saunders said.

“The mayor is a full-time mayor, and he is constantly going,” she said. “We also need to give the chief of police enough so he can make a good living, so he can be a full-time chief.”

The city is also working on a 3 percent pay increase for all city employees for the upcoming fiscal year, Walker said.

“We realize that some of our policemen and other workers are paid less than they would be in Natchez or elsewhere, and we are trying to do what we can to correct that and keep the quality people we have in place here,” Walker said.

The city voted a similar raise for its employees last year.

Alderman Jon Betts voted with Knapp against the pay increase, and — along with Saunders — Aldermen Triand “Tron” McCoy and Vernon Stevens voted in favor of it.