Board members of the Southeast Berrien County Landfill rejected the original proposal to give General Manager Sonny Fuller a 7 percent salary increase Wednesday.

Instead they motioned by a vote of eight to two to allow Fuller a 4 percent salary increase. This will bring his pay from $78,694 to $81,841.76, which will be active July 1 retroactively, as this in when the 2016-2017 fiscal year begins for the SEBC landfill.

The decision came after more than an hour long closed session, where the 10 board members that represent the five municipalities debated. The self-funded landfill, includes ownership from the cities of Buchanan and Niles and the townships of Bertrand, Buchanan and Niles.

When board members re-opened the meeting to the public, there was still a bit of argument as to what Fuller could receive.

Board member Herschel Hoese said the rate being asked for was disproportionate to the rate of the raise other landfill employees would receive.

“I feel that we may have a retaliation from the workers,” Hoese said. “That he gets 7 percent of the salary has right now as a raise [and] they get 3 percent of maybe $10 or $20, so I just worry about these things.”

Fuller has served the Southeast Berrien County Landfill as general manager for the past five and a half years.

“I am very thankful for anything that they want to give me,” Fuller said.

He is also eligible for a bonus of up to 15 percent for the 2016-2017 year after audits, if he accomplishes certain tasks such as 5 percent net income to the landfill and meeting training requirements. He said another goal is writing up a business plan for the landfill.

He said each task he said is tied to a dollar amount. For this year’s work, he said his bonus would be around 6 percent after this November’s audit.

Board member and Buchanan Mayor Carla Cole said she felt Fuller deserved more than 4 percent.

“I felt that he has done a fantastic job with the landfill,” Cole said. “We have moved way far ahead since Sonny has been here and I think he needs to be compensated for the great work that he does.”

The raise is better than the amount he earned last year, which was roughly a 2 percent raise on his salary.