BUTLER TWP - The Butler School Board Monday night approved nearly $100,000 in tax assessment appeals as the result of successful reassessment appeals for several businesses and residential owners.

The requests came on the heels of $110,000 in tax reassessments and

successful

appeals the board approved in March at the urging of district solicitor Tom King.

As with the requests approved in March, King on Monday advised the board it didn't have an option in approving the requests since reassessments had been done by tax assessors for Butler County.

The reassessments and appeals approved Monday are:

Warner Development for a decrease of $8,452 in taxes.

GBK Associates (known as Kmart) for a $16,648 decrease in its taxes

Marmon Keystone for a $6,108 decrease in its taxes.

Lowe's for a $14,954 reduction in its taxes.

American Hardware for a $46,206 reduction in its taxes.

D&J Land Development for a $156 reduction in its taxes.

Maridon Museum for a $6,081 adjustment in its taxes.

Lisa Dorenkamp for a $253 adjustment in property taxes for her residence.

Shimesh and Yogitha Samuel for a reduction of $1,545 in property taxes for their residence.

Sunrise Village Homeowners with 15 properties for a reduction in taxes of $1,821.

Thomas Ekas for a reduction of $156 in taxes on his residence.

Lumar Village apartments for a reduction of $8,512 in taxes.

In addition to the appeals granted Monday night, board members approved four others last month.

Superintendent Ed Fink said 14 total reassessments have been granted so far, with a $134,552 decrease for the school district.

Fink said he is unsure if the reassessments the district has approved in the past two months will encourage other entities to seek reassessments as well.

"It costs quite a bit of money to have the reassessments done, so most places aren't going to do it unless they know they stand to receive substantial savings," Fink said.

Those who want a tax adjustment must pay to have a qualified appraiser assess the property. The adjusted appraisals are then submitted to the county tax assessment and appeals board for consideration.

If they are approved, the other taxing bodies affected by the changes - the school district and the municipality in which the property is located - must adjust the assessment on those properties.

Because the district still is unsure what it will receive in federal and state funding for the 2004-05 fiscal year, Fink said it is hard to tell how much of an impact the reassessments will have at this time. The district still is planning next year's budget.

"We have too many pieces of the puzzle missing to make any determinations yet on how this will impact us," Fink said.

However, if many more reassessments and reductions are requested and state and federal funding isn't up to par, it could hurt the district's budget for next year, Fink warned.