Over the weekend, voters in Eunice approved a sales tax that will give police and fire department employees a pay raise.

For a long time, Eunice Police Officers have been among the lowest-paid officers in the area, with a starting hourly salary of only $9.75.

With the newly-approved sales tax, the officers will see a pay raise. “It’ll be over $400 a month increase for each employee,” said Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot.

He tells News 10 this is something that will benefit not only officers, but Eunice residents as well. “Whenever [employees] start getting paid better, and life gets easier at home, then you come to work in a better mood,” the chief said. “You come to work in a better mood. You’re dealing with the people in the community and the public, so you’re going to have better dealings with them.”

Fontenot also said he hopes this tax will help increase the number of officers in the department.

“I’m hoping that’ll help us retain the officers that we have. They won’t be abandoning us for other departments and we can still attract other people that are looking to get into law enforcement.”

The new tax is a quarter of a cent sales tax. Meaning, if you spend $4, you’ll only pay one penny for the tax. It begin July 1st and will generate approximately $640,000 a year.