BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area School District school board voted 8-0 on Monday, June 26, to raise the tax rate by 2.5 mills — bringing the millage in the district to 106.98 — to help balance a budget with expenditures totaling $110.4 million.

This means a property with an assessed value of $100,000 would pay about $3,900 in taxes to the district.

Brian White, district superintendent, said the major costs are the same this coming year — staff salaries and benefits — but inflationary pressures on expenses like transportation added to the increased budget.

Some of the biggest expense jumps from last year are salaries, which increased from $44.3 million to $45.3 million; supplies, which went from $3.2 million to $4.4 million; benefits, which went from $30.1 million to $30.8 million; and equipment, which went from $326,000 to $861,000.