For school districts and municipalities in Butler County, one way a bad economy impacts their budgets is through a poor real estate market.

Ed Rupert, director of county property and revenue, said the housing market bottomed out in much of the county last year.

"Countywide, the number of sales were down," he said.

After peaking in 2006 with 6,412 deed transfers, that number plummeted to 5,011 last year.

"This is an all-time low for the last 20 years," Rupert said.

For every home sale, a real estate transfer tax is levied. The tax amounts to 2 percent of the sale price.

The state receives half while the remainder is split between the respective school district and municipality.

While the county does not receive any revenue from real estate transfer taxes, the drop in home sales was felt by those who do.

The Butler School District typified the trend with real estate transfer tax revenue decreasing more than $200,000 in a year.

That number slid from $612,629 in the 2007-08 fiscal year to $405,584 in the 2008-09 year.

Cathy Rodgers, district business manager, said the loss in revenue was nearly offset by an unexpected rise in property taxes, leaving only a net revenue decrease of $43,000.

"It kind of balanced out," she said.

For the 2009-10 year, the district allotted $450,000 in real estate transfer tax revenue out of a total budget of $92.1 million.

Rodgers said that projected number appears on target as the district pulled in more than $223,000 through January. The fiscal year ends June 30.

Because real estate transfer tax revenue is difficult to predict, the district continually monitors the number.

"We watch that every month," Rodgers said.

The Mars School District also was impacted by the downturn.

For the 2007-08 fiscal year, the district pulled in $775,000 for real estate transfer taxes. That number dropped to $625,000 for the 2008-09 year.

Jill Swaney, district business manager, said the monthly real estate transfer revenue averaged $65,000 before the slump.

That monthly average sagged to $25,000 during the first five months in 2009.

Swaney said the difference was absorbed, but the decrease was noticeable.

The situation improved in June 2009 when that revenue source started to climb back up.

"That's when it rebounded," Swaney said.

Out of the 2009-10 Mars school budget of $37.2 million, $550,000 is allotted for real estate revenue.

In the Seneca Valley School District, real estate transfer tax revenue dropped to $1.17 million in the 2008-09 year.

The previous fiscal year, that number was $1.74 million.

Lynn Burtner, Seneca Valley business manager, said the unanticipated decrease didn't hurt the budget.

"In that year, expenditures came in under budget," Burtner stated in an e-mail. "The revenue shortfall was more than covered by the spending reduction."

For the 2009-10 budget, $1.7 million is allotted for real estate transfer tax revenue, which comprises nearly 2 percent of the total $87.3 million budget for the district.

Property taxes amount to 53.8 percent of the budget, or $47 million.

At the municipal level, Center Township fit the trend. After peaking in 2006 with $160,120 in real estate transfer tax revenue, the number dropped to $103,420 in 2007 before slumping to $83,386 in 2009.

Anthony Amendolea, township treasurer, said the effect on the township budget was limited the first year of the decrease in 2007 because there were sufficient funds to cover the difference.

And the lower revenue in subsequent years was anticipated.

For the 2010 budget of $1.6 million, $100,000, or 6 percent, is allotted for revenue from real estate transfer taxes.

While many municipalities rely more on property taxes, Center's spike in real estate transfer tax revenue exceeded its property tax revenue, which was more than $141,000 by nearly $20,000.

Saxonburg hit its peak in 2004 with $42,000 in real estate transfer taxes culled from sales of units at Saxonburg Village on Bella Drive.

After sagging to $17,000 in 2008, deed transfer taxes bottomed out at $10,500 in 2009.

Mary Papik, borough manager, said last year's low didn't hurt the borough.

"There were other areas where the income was up and some areas where expenses were down," she said. "The overall picture for the borough was good."

Under the 2010 total budget of $588,941, only $9,000 is projected for real estate transfer tax revenue.

Papik set the $9,000 number as a conservative estimate based on the revenue in 2009.

Unlike Center Township, where real estate transfer tax revenue exceeded property tax revenue at one point, Saxonburg's real estate transfer taxes comprise only 1.5 percent of the total budget.

Conversely, property taxes make up 40 percent of Saxonburg's budget.

Papik said there also is a limited impact to the borough when real estate transfer taxes are higher than projected.

"A peak just gives us a little more cushion," she said.

Papik said excess revenue from deed transfers would be used to expand road work or put money in special funds for building and vehicle maintenance.

She said budgeting for real estate transfer tax revenue is harder than ever.

"Based on recent housing and economic conditions, it's difficult to forecast buying and selling of property," Papik said.

While many areas lost revenue in 2009 from lackluster home sales, Cranberry bucked the trend.

"We actually had an all-time high," township manager Jerry Andree said.

There was $440,000 in unanticipated real estate transfer revenue from the sale of property at Cranberry Woods.

The unexpected addition was part of a total $1.4 million in deed transfer tax revenue.

The low year for the township was in 2008, when real estate transfer tax revenue dipped $90,000 lower than the budgeted $1.2 million, or $1.1 million.

However, that amount was too low to dent the 2008 or 2009 budgets.

"We were able to absorb that," Andree said.

He said the township always tries to be conservative in estimating revenue from deed transfers so as to not be hurt by a drop in property sales.

Out of the 2010 township budget of $32 million, $970,000 is allotted for real estate transfer tax revenue.

Cranberry's good fortune may spread to other areas if some economic indicators lead to an upswing in the real estate market.

"With interest rates down, we expect that to pick up," Rupert said of real estate transfer tax revenue.