With about 6,200 students, Butler Area School District has the second-highest public school enrollment in the county.

It also has the largest number of properties for which the assessed values remain under appeal.

That leaves in the air tens of thousands of dollars the district may be unable to collect in taxes, the primary way Butler Area — and all districts in the state — funds education.

Also affected, but to a lesser extent, are the municipalities whose children attend Butler Area, chief among them Butler Township and the city of Butler.

This second of a three-part series examines how pending appeals of property tax assessments affects the budgets of the county seat’s school district and surrounding municipalities, and how those impacts may affect local services such as education, police coverage and road maintenance.

Butler Area

Of the 48 properties in Butler County for which the assessed values remain under appeal, nearly half — 21 — are located in Butler Area School District. In sum, the assessed values of these properties currently sit higher than $5.25 million, generating for the school district nearly $550,000 in taxes based on the 2020 tax rate of 104.03 mills.

The five highest-valued properties are all commercial, and are split between Butler Township and the city.

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