The agenda Butler City Council approved for Thursday’s regular meeting will include final adoption of the 2018 budget as well as first readings of ordinances to withdraw from the Butler Transit Authority and create a human relations commission.

Council set the agenda at Tuesday’s forum meeting with Mayor Tom Donaldson and Councilmen Kenny Bonus and Corey Roche in attendance. Councilman Michael Walter was absent and Councilwoman Kathy Kline arrived after the brief meeting ended.

The proposed $9.1 million budget ordinance and tax ordinance would reduce the real estate tax rate 1 mill to 42.25 mills. The reduction is the result of energy savings created by converting street lights to LED lighting.

Revenue from real estate taxes is projected at $2 million.

The budget would allocate 30 mills for general purposes, 7.5 mills for debt service, 2 mills for recreation, .5 mills for the Butler Public Library and 2.25 mills for street lights.

Council agreed to consider accepting a $1 million tax revenue anticipation loan from PNC Bank.

Transit authorityThe first reading of an ordinance withdrawing the city as a member of the Butler Transit Authority will be considered.If council approves the second reading at a future meeting, the city will no longer provide funding to the authority, Donaldson said after the meeting.The city paid the authority $25,000 this year and the amount increases 5 percent each year, he said.Last week, the authority approved a resolution allowing Butler County to eventually take over the operation. The county commissioners will be able to begin appointing new members to the authority board of directors on Jan. 1, 2019, as terms of current members begin to expire.Board members are now appointed by the city and Butler Township, which are the current authority members.Thursday’s agenda includes a motion to appoint city resident Lance Calvert to the authority for a five-year term ending Dec. 31, 2022. If council approves, Calvert will be on the board when the county takes over.Human relationsDonaldson said he does not support the proposed ordinance creating the human relations commission and hopes it is not approved.“I’m not for this ordinance,” Donaldson said.He said local clergy members asked him to put it on the agenda and he agreed to because residents deserve to know where council stands on the issue.Creating the commission was a requirement of the abandoned anti-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance was initially proposed to council by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 2011, brought up again in the summer of 2016 and discussed during the council election this year, but has never been acted on.The anti-discrimination ordinance would have required equal opportunities for employment, housing, use of public accommodations and post-secondary education to people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, familial status, marital status and mental and physical disabilities.City staffingAlso on Thursday, council will consider permanent employment of police patrol Officers Andrew Niederlander and William Dobson, and Valerie Sura, parking violation monitor.A motion to allow Officer Corey Wendel to live 16.6 miles from City Hall and to waive a contract rule requiring officers to live within 15 miles of City Hall was removed from the agenda. Police Chief Ronald Brown said the requirement has been interpreted as 15 miles by air in the past and 15 air miles equals 17.2 land miles so Wendel meets the requirement.