The Butler School Board Monday voted 8-1 to adopt a $102 million budget that does not raise taxes for the 2018-19 school year.

The vote came after the board discussed raising real estate taxes by 1.56 mill to build up a capital project fund at last week’s workshop meeting.

Superintendent Brian White said he was closing out the current budget while preparing next year’s budget and he discovered that proceeds from the sale of Oakland Township Elementary School, combined with health care cost savings and an increase in Title 1 revenue, resulted in balancing next year’s budget without tapping into the fund balance.

The district sold the school for $200,000 in 2017.

White said next year’s budget contains $100,000 for the capital project fund and he challenged the board to add $650,000 to the fund every year beginning with the 2019-20 school year to build up the fund to pay for building projects.

Pointing out that the district owes $30 million to $40 million in interest on its current debt obligations, he said using the capital project fund for projects is better than borrowing money with interest.

“Get out of borrowing money. We’re paying a premium,” White said.

Board member Bill Halle said savings the district has achieved through employee contracts have positioned the district to avoid a tax increase.

“We’ve come a long way in a short time,” Halle said.

Board member Suzie Bradick, who voted against the budget, said she preferred the proposed tax increase, which would have raised the typical resident’s taxes by about $30.

“We’re losing out on a chance to get healthy now instead of waiting until next year,” Bradick said.

Over 10 years, the tax increase would have generated more than $6.5 million, she said.

Halle countered that taking $6.5 million out of the community would impact the economy.

White indicated that the district might have to close the middle school in the future because the building needs a lot of work and the school isn’t needed.

“Our footprint is too big,” White said.

In other business, the board approved the first reading of a random drug testing policy requiring tests for students in extracurricular activities and those who drive to school.