BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area School District school board voted 8-0 on Monday, June 26, to raise the tax rate by 2.95 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 approximate market value of $100,000 would pay about $1,506 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.

White also said creating a budget was a challenge because Pennsylvania legislature has not yet passed a state budget. Administrators of Butler school district based the new year’s budget on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget, because it has to be passed by July 1, according to White

“In prior years, sometimes if they pass their budget after July 1, they give us an opportunity to reopen ours,” White said.

The 2023-24 school year budget is just under $4 million more than the previous year’s budget. School board member John Conrad said that based on 2021 data, the most recent available from the state, Butler Area School District has a low budget to student ratio compared to other districts in Pennsylvania.

“If you list them as the most spent per student to the least spent per student, we stand at 451 out of 500,” Conrad said. “The people of Butler school district are getting a bargain.”

The district receives about $55.4 million of its budget from local sources, $51.8 million from state sources and about $3 million from federal sources.

Real estate tax collection is 39% of the district’s revenue; the basic education subsidy from the state is 26%; and the retirement subsidy reimbursement, which is also from the state, is 7% of the district’s funding,” according to Heather Bonzo, director of finance and operations for the district.

White said Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, which is buying the building most recently known as Butler Middle School, is submitting a plan to finalize the purchase of the property. The potential closing date is in September, according to White.

The school district has been moving supplies and materials out of the school since it closed after the 2022-23 school year. White said there will be an auction for some of the items leftover in the school.

He also said Pittsburgh Gateways will present to the board plans for the former middle school, probably during an August meeting.

“They have completed a feasibility study for the middle school and they have developed a plan that they feel they are a suitable candidate for use,” White said. “They still have a lot of pieces to put together but they definitely think they have a plan that is sustainable, workable.”