SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The Town Council in Surfside Beach has a lot of think about as they prepare for the upcoming budget.

“This next budget meeting is going to be a doozy,” councilman David Pellegrino said on Tuesday night. “This group up here is going to have to make some big decisions. Every time we make a decision to invest in our employees, which is almost always the right decision, we may have to give up some other service, or some other activity, or some other task.”

The council must decide if they will offer bonuses or raises to other departments after they recently approved bonuses for all officers in the police department.

Police Chief, Kenneth Hofmann, told the council in February he had leftover money in the budget because of vacancies. He was able to take the money and give $2,500 bonuses to all Class 1 certified officers and $1,500 bonuses to all Class 2 and civilian full-time employees.

Councilwoman Julie Samples said she wants all department heads to see if they have extra money to do this for all employees.

“They have gone through a lot these past few months in this town,” said Samples. “I’m concerned about morale. I want them to know we care about them and appreciate them and that we want to invest in them. it’s a no-brainer.”

Councilman Tim Courtney said he would like to see more manpower hired for the fire department instead of bonuses.

“I’m all for bonuses, but again, we have to start budgeting down the road,” said Courtney. “What’s going to happen when those two career firefighters they tap, out they retire?”

Firefighter Raises

A separate discussion specifically addressed raises for all town firefighters. Samples said she hopes the council will look at the pay disparity between Surfside Beach firefighters and firefighters in Horry County and Myrtle Beach.

This comes two months after Police Chief Hofmann presented his proposal for police raises across the board. The proposal is as follows:

Current pay

SBPD / MBPD (starting salary)

Uncertified Officer: $33,000 / $40,000

Certified Officer: $35, 370 / $44,000

Proposed increase (starting salary)

Uncertified Officer: $36,300

Certified Officer: $40,000

We expect to get numbers in a proposal from the fire department by the end of the month. The council has to finalize its budget by the end of June.