It pays to be a Navajo Nation police officer.

And now, thanks to the council’s Budget & Finance Committee it pays a little better.

The B&F Committee gave its okay for pay increases for the Navajo Nation’s Division of Public Safety. It was the last committee approval needed for the pay hikes to become final.

The new payscale will be based on performance grading, Public Safety Director Jesse Delmar said. The Public Safety department will have a specific salary schedule within the 2017 budget instructions manual.

The move would allow the NNDPS to utilize Public Law 638 contract funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to pay for the salary increases.

“We weren’t using that for years and years,” Delmar said. NNDPS pay wasn’t handled well, he added.

Now the payscale will be based on years of experience, job performance and other factors, Delmar said.

Navajo Police Chief Philip Francisco also approves the new format.

One vocal critic is Navajo Nation Delegate Leonard Tsosie, who is a member of the B&F Committee.

He sees the new payscale as too top heavy. Tsosie said he would prefer to see the police officers on the street getting more of a raise rather than other personnel.

“I can’t believe what I am hearing. The Chief of Police does not support police officers,” Tsosie said.

Tsosie insisted the new payscale was just keeping the status quo, rather than hiring more officers.

Delegate Tom Chee agreed with Tsosie.

Some Navajo Nation employees are making much more money than they should, he argued. Some people will walk away with pensions of around $900,000, Chee said.

No police officers will get pensions anywhere close to that, he added.