The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners voted to give themselves an 80% raise Tuesday night, WoodTV 8 reported.

The massive jump in pay – from approximately $18,400 to $33,000 per year – passed by a 5-4 vote Tuesday night, with five of the board’s six Democrats voting for the raise, and all three Republicans in opposition.

The lucrative raise is set to take effect in January of 2025.

According to Commissioner John Taylor, a Democrat, the raise is not a big deal.

“I don’t believe it’s about the percentage when you’re dealing with that small of a dollar amount. I believe it’s, you need to pay the position what the position does to attract,” Taylor noted.

Taylor and other Democrats advanced their arguments in the presence of an unruly public, which gathered before and during the meeting to protest the raise.

One Kalamazoo resident told the Board that he was “totally disgusted” with the raise. Several others called the Board of Commissioners “greedy.”

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The plan was proposed initially during the Board’s October 1 meeting. The first proposal was for an annual salary of $40,000, which would have been a 115% raise.

Commissioner Jeff Heppler, a Republican, agreed that some type of raise was needed, but thought that 80% was far too extensive, particularly to implement in a one-year time frame.

“I still think a raise is appropriate but not to what’s been proposed,” Heppler said during the meeting. “We want to support our employees.”

County Administrator Kevin Catlin echoed the arguments advanced by the Board’s Democrats, noting that the commissioners are “contributing to the organization in a positive way.”

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As things stand, Catlin noted, the Board of Commissioners is paid from the County’s general fund, meaning that the raise is “really insignificant.”