2 Years at My Job - Increase

I have been with this company for two years now.  Last year, my boss Jennifer was very impressed with me.  She went to her boss and her boss's boss and got it ok'd to give me an increase of 4%.  The maximum last year was 3.5% (that's what she told me).  This year, her boss is now my boss because the department shut down.  I was a big help to the company with the transition, managing after she left, and helping in a lot of ways, most of which was above and beyond for me.  Regardless of all that, my increase this year was not as much.  I feel a little slighted too, because I didn't have an 'evaluation' per se, but just found out from the lady who does payroll.  There was no meeting with my boss, not even a phone call or an email.  I just feel like that since I took on more responsibility and went the extra mile from what was expected, I should do better than last year, not worse.  My girlfriend Theresia brought me back down to reality when she told me "Sometimes its just about what the company can afford in the budget that year."  So there are other variables.  Perhaps the max this year was only 3% and I really totally rocked with my 3.7%...