BUTLER TWP — Commissioners approved a 3-mill property tax increase Monday as part of the 2012 budget.

That pushes the township’s overall tax rate to 11.25 mills for the $6.38 million budget. The 2011 budget is $6.34 million with 8.25 mills of tax.

It was not a unanimous vote, however, with Commissioners Ben Simon and Dave Zarnick voting against the $6.38 million budget.

While Simon voted against the proposed budget in November because he opposes the tax increase, Zarnick voted no because of a salary increase for staff members that was proposed by Commissioner George Shockey during Monday’s meeting.

Shockey said he feels the 1.5 percent salary increase for staff members, such as zoning officer Cindy Davis, was wrong.

“I think our increase in staff wages is like slapping them in the face,” Shockey said. “We get money to the road crew and money to the police but not for our staff.”

He said he wanted the $8,200 aggregate salary increase for 10 staff members to jump to $17,000 and to be distributed evenly, not as a percentage pay increase.

“Take it out of the paving program or juggle the budget, but we need to end the class warfare that’s going on around here and not keep spreading the gap,” Shockey said.

Commissioners Joe Hasychak and Zarnick took exception with Shockey’s proposal, asking why he didn’t bring it up earlier in the budgeting process.

Shockey took offense to their questioning and said next time he’d write them personal letters to tell them what he thought.

“If you want your budget passed, I’ll pass it but I think you’re headed down a dead-end road,” Shockey said, adding he wants to see a larger tax increase to help pay for township services.

“It’s not my budget,” Hasychak said. “It’s the township’s budget.”

In the end, the budget was approved with the staff salary increase, taking $9,000 from the paving program to pay for it.