Butler County residents next year will pay more in county property taxes.

The commissioners on Wednesday approved a $150.7 million budget for 2016 with a 3-mill tax increase, bringing the total tax rate to 27.6 mills.

The average taxpayer is expected to see a $65 increase on his tax bill, according to the county.

The commissioners voted 2-1 on the budget.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein voted no, saying he would not support a 3-mill increase.

“Why do we have to tax the people to death?” Eckstein asked.

He noted his proposal to lower the tax increase to 1.25 mills that he presented Monday.

That included using a projected $2 million in state gas drilling impact fee money to cover $300,000 for drug, veteran and mental health court programs, $500,000 for a county contingency fund and $900,000 for 911 radio upgrades.

He also proposed reducing budgeted salary amounts to more realistic levels and adding $500,000 to the general fund from the workers’ compensation fund.

Eckstein said his proposal was meant to be flexible and with room to compromise.

Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, said current and past commissioners have balanced the budget using money from the fund balance. Now, that balance is almost empty, meaning the tax rate has to be increased.

He said Eckstein’s proposal to decrease the tax increase is based on state gas impact fees, which he said are not certain.

“I don’t think it’s right to budget money we’re not sure of getting,” McCarrier said.

He said if that money does come in, it should be used for items like the future 911 radio system upgrade.

McCarrier said some people may ask why the county considered not raising taxes.

“Unfortunately, government does not work that way,” McCarrier said.

He said that several of the county’s unions received pay increases this year, and the cost of health care always is going up. The county also is handed down actions by the federal and state governments that the county ultimately has to pay for.

McCarrier also said the county has a 1969 property assessment. If the county had a current assessment, he said the tax rate would be about 2.5 mills.

If Allegheny County was working with a 1969 assessment like Butler, McCarrier said its tax rate would be about 40 mills. Allegheny’s tax rate is 4.73 mills.

“Our taxes are far, far lower than any of the other surrounding counties,” McCarrier said.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton said that in his time in office, he never voted for something he didn’t believe was right. He noted that if the county did not sell the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in 2014, the tax increase likely would have been higher.

“In the future, it will save the county millions and millions of dollars,” Pinkerton said of the sale.

The total tax rate is 27.6 mills, which is split into 21.983 mills for the general fund, 2.71 mills for debt service and 2.935 mills for Butler County Community College.

Earlier this month, the county presented the same budget with the taxes broken up into 23.7 mills for the general fund and 3.9 mills for debt service.

Chief clerk Amy Wilson said the new rates break out the county’s contribution to BC3 — $4.97 million for 2016 — into a separate tax fund and make corrections to the amount of money used for the general fund and for paying off debt.

Eckstein, though voting against the budget and the general fund millage rate, voted in favor of the rates for BC3 and the debt service.

He said the county has been using some of the debt service money during the past 10 years for general fund purposes, which he said was wrong and said he wanted to take to the state auditor general. The new rate is more accurate, he said.

He also noted that there is a 25-mill cap on the general fund tax rate. Going over that would trigger a property reassessment, which he said the county has no money for.

He said the new BC3 rate will help prevent that from happening.