Butler Area School District officials increased taxes in its budget last year because of rising costs in health care, staffing and transportation, but the need for the tax increase proposed for this year is for the district’s facilities, primarily school roofs.

Superintendent Brian White said seven out of the 10 schools in the district have roofs in need of repairs, renovation or replacement, which led the school board to propose a 2.66-mill tax increase in the 2024-25 budget. According to White, some of the needs are critical, and would cost more to repair if not addressed soon.

“We have identified an estimated $1,050,147 in capital projects that are considered critical or not currently functioning,” White said. “And an estimated $8,501,672 in capital projects that would disrupt the operations of the school if there were a potential failure.”

The schools with roofs identified as needing repairs, renovation or replacement are Center Avenue Community School, Connoquenessing Elementary, McQuistion Elementary, Northwest Elementary, Butler Senior High School, Center Township Elementary and Summit Elementary, according to White. Center Avenue, McQuistion and the high school have sections of roofing identified as far exceeding their service life.

Leaking also remains an issue in multiple buildings, White said, but repairs are done periodically to extend the useful life of school roofs. Some of the critical roof needs are planned to be addressed over the summer, according to White.

While the district had money from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund — money that could be spent on capital projects — more than $11.8 million was used to fund an expansion to Butler Senior High School.

White said the school district will apply for grants to help offset the cost of roof repairs. The school board voted May 13 to apply for about $6.5 million from the state Public School Facility Improvement Grant. Heather Bonzo, finance manager for Butler Area School District, said the grant would require a 25% match from the district.

White said at the May 13 school board meeting that the district needs a tax increase to deal with the facilities issues in the district as soon as possible. With the projects already identified, he said the district just needs to allocate funding for them.

“Roofs are also identified as early as possible for repair or renovation in order to extend life before replacement is necessary,” White said.