BUFFALO TWP — Township residents won't see a property tax increase for the 2017-18 school year.

The Freeport school board Wednesday adopted a more than $30 million budget that does not include an overall tax increase.

The board voted 5 to 3 for the budget.

Members Dan Lucovich, Barbara Toy-Gaydos, Christine Davies, Frank Prazenica and Melanie Bollinger voted in the majority.

Lucovich, school board president, said after the meeting the consensus was to toe the line on taxes.

“It was a matter of can we make it through one more year,” he said.

Lucovich said the district will tap into reserves to balance the budget without a tax hike.

Board members Michael Huth, Frank Borrelli and John Marty dissented.

Huth said the school district would be unable to maintain its current programs without a tax hike, so he preferred adopting a budget with a 3.3 percent increase.

“I still think that would be a prudent way to go,” he said.

Bollinger argued land owners need a break after consecutive years of tax hikes.

“We've been hitting taxpayers a lot,” she said.

Bollinger said the district needs to find more creative ways to pay expenses than continually resort to tax hikes.

Although the budget keeps Buffalo land owners at 142.6 mills, it increases Freeport and South Buffalo Township residents an additional 2 percent, making their rate 62.4 mills.

Because the district straddles Butler and Armstrong counties, a state formula is applied to assess different rates based on the respective county.

Prazenica stressed the state guidelines for assessing taxes in districts encompassing more than one county are to blame for Armstrong residents paying more when the district is not raising taxes overall.

“That is not an increase by the school board,” he said.

The other option on the table, which Huth favored, divided an overall increase of 3.3 percent by levying 1.4 percent more to Buffalo property owners and 3.3 percent more to Armstrong residents.

During public comment before the vote, school board member-elect Richard Hill implored the current board to not raise taxes overall.

“I think cost-cutting is the way to go,” Hill said.

He explained how his taxes rose a total of $415 over four years, increasing his annual cost from roughly $2,100 to $2,500 for property assessed at under $20,000.

Freeport Mayor James Swartz pointed out Buffalo residents pay the most real estate mills in Butler County. Swartz asked what the other districts were doing to keep the rates lower.

“What are they doing right and we're doing wrong?” he asked.

Huth replied other districts have more businesses to bolster their tax revenue.

After Huth started citing companies in neighboring districts, Swartz pointed out Oberg Industries lay within Freeport School District. Lucovich added the value of a tax mill differs significantly depending on where it is levied.

“It's kind of deceiving,” he said about just looking at millage rates.