The sale of Broad Street Elementary School may have been approved by the Butler School Board, but Mayor Tom Donaldson said he will do everything in his power to block the Arc, a nonprofit, from moving in it.

On Monday night, the board agreed to sell the closed building to the Arc of Butler County for $400,000.

But Donaldson, who has been critical of selling the building to a nonprofit for months, said the decision to sell to a nonprofit is “irresponsible” and “absurd.”

He wants a business to occupy the building so its taxes can help the city.

“Selling it for nonprofit use is out of the question,” he said Tuesday. “I’ve been complaining for two years plus, there’s approximately 38 to 40 percent of the city properties that are tax exempt for one reason or another. It doesn’t do the city any good.

“Our tax base continues to erode, and at some point, the city will implode. Our income is not going to match our expenses this year. But nobody gets it, I guess.

“When the city implodes, will they get it? I don’t know. I don’t want that to happen.”

Donaldson said he did not see the board make an attempt to find a tax-paying entity to buy the building, but he admitted he is “hesitant to criticize (the board members).”

John Link, executive director of Arc, did not comment on what Donaldson had to say about the Arc moving to the Broad Street school. Link did say that he has plans to meet with the mayor and city council in the future to see what the issues are.

By moving to the school building, the Arc would vacate its two other buildings in the city, one on Washington Street and one on Hollywood Drive, Link said. The hope is that two tax-paying entities can move into those buildings eventually, he said.

The board had previous offers from J.M. Beatty Furniture, an initial offer at $530,000 and a second offer at $400,000 that would deed the playground to the city. That offer was voted down by the board in March, and attempts to work with the city and J.M. Beatty Furniture to come to an agreement were not successful.

The playground presented an issue for the school board since residents stressed the need to keep it, but J.M. Beatty Furniture had plans to use that space for parking.

“I’m willing to give up the playground for the for-profit business,” Donaldson said Tuesday.

Because a nonprofit organization will not add to the city’s finances, Donaldson said he plans to challenge all attempts for the Arc to move into the space.

“The city will be looking into every legal means to block this sale through zoning or rules and regulations that we can apply to stop or block the sale,” he said. “I’m pretty sure council agrees.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Donaldson said he had already contacted the city’s code enforcement office and asked the staff to look into possible options to block the sale.

“If there’s laws we can use to our advantage to keep it from being sold, in the best interest of our taxpayers, I intend to pursue that,” he said.

Board President Nina Teff said the city’s approval of the Arc’s intended use of facilities is out of the district’s hands.

“As a school board, we could just take the action that’s within our power to take and that was the vote last night,” she said.

“Beyond that, as the Arc pursues whether they can get approval from the city, that’s up to city council and the mayor. I can’t really do anything about it, and I can’t control it.”

Teff also admitted that she had been going back and forth on whether to sell Broad Street even as she voted Monday night.

“Personally, I am still not convinced that we should’ve gotten rid of all of (the schools),” she said Tuesday. “I still kind of teeter back and forth. I was really kind of on the fence, and still, even after the vote, I’m second-guessing, ‘are we confident that we don’t need a building?’

“I somewhat feel defeated in trying to look at innovative and creative ways to do things. I know there’s a lot of taxpayers who have said, ‘get rid of the buildings.’ But at some point, I have to question, ‘am I doing the job that I was elected to do? How many taxpayers want me to hold on to the building for use in the future, and how many want me to get rid of the building?’”

Teff said she was part of a group of board members who wanted to hold on to the building and look at other options for repurposing the building with an educational focus, but eventually, she was not getting the help the board needed from administration.

“Quite frankly, the administration didn’t want to tackle (that),” she said.

“We can only ask so much if the leadership in place is not willing to look at some of that or have looked into it and said, ‘We don’t believe in (it).’ ”

Donaldson predicted the board will likely need a new building in the future.

“Down the road, in the not too far future, I’ll bet you they come up with a building shortage or a classroom shortage, and they’ll have to build another,” he said.

The sale of the building must be approved by a Butler County Judge before it is final. At that time, the public will be allowed to present any issues with the sale to the judge.

“I fully intend to address the judge at the court sale. I intend to exercise that option as I’m sure many residents will,” the mayor said.

At that hearing, any other potential bidders could make offers, making Donaldson hopeful that “some for-profit will come along and put their money where their mouth is and bring a for-profit to the city.”

Donaldson said he is upset by the lack of foresight and the problems this sale could cause for both the city and the school district.

“Really, it’s frustrating,” he said. “We have a school board that’s shooting me in the foot as the city, and they’re shooting themselves in the foot.

“These kind of things won’t help us. These government agencies, we need to work closer together, and it doesn’t look like that’s happening any time soon.”