BUTLER TWP — The Butler School Board is considering taking out a bond issue of up to $10 million to pay for roof replacements and other capital projects.

The new bond would be done this fall while simultaneously saving money on debt service through a refinance of some older bonds.

The district has a list of deferred maintenance projects for its 10 school buildings that was put together in 2014 and had an estimated cost of $36 million over 10 years. The list does not include maintenance work at Broad Street Elementary School, which the school board plans to eventually sell.

Superintendent Brian White said Monday night that he recently did a walk-through of several buildings with some local engineers, who pointed out new issues and said that the work needed would actually be more than $36 million, he said.

Per state requirements, the district can only borrow money if it intends to use it within the next three years. White said he would not recommend borrowing to address technology or vehicle purchases, which likely wouldn't last the 15-year term of a bond.

Most of the badly needed maintenance projects are repairing or replacing roofs and fixing sidewalks.

“This is not to improve your buildings. This is to keep your buildings operational, safe, warm and dry,” White said.

The bond issue would be no more than $10 million, because that would keep it as a bank-qualified loan and give the district advantageous interest rates, White said.

At its Aug. 21 meeting, the board heard a presentation and voted to authorize the administration to work with Janney Montgomery Scott as investment banker and Dinsmore and Shohl as bond counsel for a potential refinance and bond issue.

According to information provided to the board, the refinancing of old debt this fall while interest rates are relatively low would save the district about $357,000 per year after legal fees and other expenses are subtracted, and a new bond issue could be structured to cost that same amount, meaning there would be no net change on the annual budget.

Meanwhile, the district's administration is hoping to work toward a balanced general fund budget.

According to a rough estimate provided by the administration Monday night, the Butler district was on pace to come in about $640,252 under its planned budget for the 2017-18 school year.

However, even if this estimate holds true, the district would still finish the year at a deficit of $3.57 million and would need to use money from its fund balance to balance the budget. That would drop the fund balance from $10.58 million to $7.01 million, interim director of business services Nick Morelli said.

District officials will need to find a way to reduce its budget by about $3 million without cutting essential programs, White said.

“We're going to have to make some bold moves,” he said.