CRANBERRY TWP — The township supervisors approved the 2017 budget Thursday night, which keeps the tax rate the same while funding capital projects and allowing for an expansion of the police department.

The budget includes $81.59 million in expenditures, a 3 percent increase from 2016, and keeps all services intact, said Jerry Andree, township manager.

The property tax rate for the township will remain at 13.25 mills. That tax breaks down as 8.03 mills for general purpose, 2.37 mills for fire, 1 mill for the library, 0.85 of a mill for road equipment and 1 mill for public buildings.

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

For the township, each mill brings in $395,980. A Cranberry resident with a household income of $94,000 and a property assessed at $24,500 would pay $789 in property and earned income taxes to the township, about 2 percent of their total tax bill, according to township budget documents.

The budget includes $5.7 million for public safety, the largest piece of the $22.1 million general fund budget. Township officials plan to expand the police force from 28 full-time officers to 30 in 2017 and 32 in 2018, Andree said.

The ongoing expansion and upgrade project at the Brush Creek wastewater treatment plant accounts for $27.6 million of the budget’s $31.4 million in capital expenditures. The three-year project started in 2016 and is expected to take three years and cost about $48 million.

Slated transportation improvement projects include the MSA Thruway, a tunnel that will take traffic beneath Route 228 connecting Cranberry Springs, with the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, and Cranberry Woods, home to numerous businesses including Westinghouse Electric Company. The project is expected to cost $10 million, though developers will pay for 80 percent of the cost. The township also is planning improvements to North Boundary Road near its intersection with Franklin Road.