BUTLER TWP — If the township commissioners pass the proposed 2012 township budget, residents will pay 3 more mills in property taxes.

The budget of $6.38 million is a small increase from this year’s budget of $6.34 million. Commissioners are to vote on the final budget Dec. 19.

Ed Kirkwood, township manager, gave commissioners two budget options Monday night. One included a 2.75-mill increase or the one they picked with a 3-mill increase.

A mill equals $1 in tax for each $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

Kirkwood said the lower tax increase would have meant a reduction in road paving in 2012, a reduction in road salt purchases and a reduction in the hours the township would pay for legal advice.

Commissioner Ben Simon, who was the only commissioner to vote against the preliminary budget, said he doesn’t believe now is the time for any tax increase and proposed no road paving next year.

Simon’s suggestion caused an angry response from other commissioners, including George Shockey, who asked if the road department workers would be laid off as a result.