BUTLER TWP — The Butler School Board is planning to raise taxes and furlough 35 positions to reduce its budget deficit for next year.

Deborah Brandstetter, director of business services, presented the proposed 2017-18 operating budget to the school board Monday night.

It includes $104.2 million in anticipated expenses and $102.8 million in anticipated revenues. The district would use $1.4 million from its fund balance to cover its operating deficit.

The budget includes a 3.2-mill property tax hike, increasing the district's rate from 97.8 to 101 mills.

The hike would raise the tax bill for a property assessed at $20,000 from $1,956 to $2,020 — a $64 increase.

The average property assessment in the district is $17,891. Brandstetter said the value of a mill is expected to increase again next year with the new VA Butler Healthcare facility expected to open and other development in the district.

The local property taxes are projected to bring in $40.3 million in revenue, which is about 39.2 percent of the budget. Also included under revenue in the budget was $725,000 anticipated from the sale of the Oakland Township elementary and Broad Street elementary school buildings.

Salaries and employee benefits add up to $73.2 million, more than 70 percent of the expenditures, and staff reductions were the cause of debate among board members Monday.

The budget does include a salary for one superintendent, one assistant superintendent and one unspecified administrator, though two of those positions will need to be filled.

The budget includes reducing 35 staff positions by not replacing those who have either resigned or retired and by furloughing positions.

The affected positions include 20 full-time and one part-time elementary teaching positions, five secondary teaching positions and nine nonteaching positions including three school police, five secretarial/clerical positions and one grounds crew position.

The proposal also includes hiring two new teachers and three new paraprofessionals. The new hires would be for a multiple handicap support program and emotional support at the Center Avenue Community School.

The reductions save the district $1.7 million in salary costs, though it is only reducing its salary budget by $669,625 because of the new hires and a scheduled 2.8 percent increase in salaries.

The board had considered an alternative proposal in an executive session that called for seven fewer elementary furloughs. This would have increased the district's operating deficit from $1.3 million to $1.9 million.

Board members Jennifer Cummings and Suzie Bradrick lobbied for that plan Monday, though they did not get support from other board members.

“I just have a hard time really gutting, especially at the elementary level, as we are gutting it,” Bradrick said.

Cummings said that the reduction of staff will likely increase class sizes. According to estimates the board looked at, one first grade class would be increased to 24 students.

“I believe there are more ways we can find to cut costs,” Cummings said, adding that this year will be a transition year with a new superintendent coming in.

Under its consolidation plan, the district had targeted class sizes of 20 children per room from kindergarten to third grade, 24 from fourth to sixth grade.

School board President Nina Teff said that the district would still hit those targets in the majority of classrooms.

At the beginning of the school year enrollment was reported as 6,583 students, a decrease of 287 from the year before.

Other board members said that officials have to make tough decisions to work toward a balanced budget.

“Nobody wants to release employees,” Bill Halle said. “It's happening. Either we do it in a controlled fashion or the state comes in and they tell us how we're going to do it.”

If enrollment increases, some of the furloughed positions could be restored by the start of the school year depending on class sizes, Brandstetter said.

The district has had a budget deficit for the last several years and has used fund balance money to cover its expenses.

The 2016-17 budget was approved with an estimated $4.2 million deficit, though with less than two months remaining in the school year, the district is projected to end up with only a $3.4 million deficit.

If the projections in the 2017-18 budget hold true, the district's fund balance would be taken down to $5.2 million, which would be just above 5 percent of the district's expenditures.

School board policy 620 states that the district must maintain a fund balance of no less than 5 percent and no more than 8 percent of its expenditures.

According to a projection provided by Brandstetter, the district would spend nearly all of its fund balance by the end of the 2019-20 school year if it raised taxes by 2 mills each year and continued to see expenses such as pension contributions and salaries increase.

The board can vote to adopt the preliminary budget at its meeting Monday. It will then be displayed publicly for 30 days before the board can vote for final adoption.