Employees of the Village of Bluffton will each receive a $500 bonus this month. On top of that each employee will receive a $20 Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce gift certificate.

Bluffton council approved the bonus plan on Nov. 27. The $500 bonuses cost the village $11,000.

According to Judy Augsburger, mayor, “Payroll is down, it’s been a rough year for the staff and it’s a nice gesture.”

She said that an approximate $40,000 surplus is in the payroll account due to the fact that the village went without a paid village administrator for several months.

The payroll surplus resulted when the mayor terminated Jamie Mehaffie, village administrator, on Jan. 24. The village continued without a paid administrator until the hiring of Jack Huber in late June.