A new system for clocking city employees’ times will save money and give supervisors more oversight over workers, the city’s elected officials said Wednesday as they voted to spend more than $100,000 for the computer program.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen opened a sealed proposal and gave an OK to revamp the system the city uses to track employee work hours.

The city leases the system it now uses, at a rate that has climbed to about $36,000 a year.

Paul Rogers, director of strategic planning, said the new system through Stromberg National Account Sales, which will cost $102,000 up front and between $10,000 and $15,000 for maintenance upgrades every year, will pay for itself over time and give supervisors more options.

He said the lease on the current system has increased annually, prompting the change.

“The system works in realtime, so supervisors can go online and check to see who’s at work,” Rogers said. Employees at home can look up their status and hours over the Internet.

“Sounds like more paperwork, or more something,” said Joe Graves, director of the Parks and Recreation Department. Sounds like a pain.” Graves said Wednesday afternoon that he had not seen details of the incoming system, but he believes the current time-clock system works fine, though it involves “a lot of paperwork.”

Meanwhile, those who find themselves punching the clock for the Vicksburg Police Department will be paid more per hour, if they are working at base pay. The board on Monday approved a 75-cent increase to the starting salary for Vicksburg police, in a move to create stronger incentives for joining the department.

“This will help with their recruiting,” Rogers said. The department had space in its budget to afford the base-pay increases, he said, but numbers telling the increase to the department’s payroll were not available. The current starting salary of $12.50 per hour will rise to $13.25.

Only the base rate will change, Rogers said, adding that officers making less than the new rate will have their pay adjusted, too.

“Those that are hired and are still below the new minimum will be brought up,” said human resources director Lamar Horton.

Horton said raises to current employees’ pay will cost from $10,000 to $12,000. The police department has $4,155,840 budgeted for its payroll.