Eagle-eyed taxpayers in the City of Butler might have noticed their Butler Area School District real estate taxes appeared to increase on their bills — an error Berkheimer Tax Innovations said is being corrected.

The homestead/farmstead exclusion was left off 2025 Berkheimer tax forms, which made it appear there was a tax increase of more than $200 for some city residents between 2024 and 2025.

Berkheimer learned of the error Monday, Aug. 4, according to Jim Hunt, Berkheimer’s director of governmental relations. He said a step was missed when loading the files into their system that caused the exclusion to be left off.

Hunt said the company was sending new tax bills to city residents on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 5 and 6.

Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White said Berkheimer customers living in the city were the only ones affected by the error. According to the district’s proposed budget, more than 12,600 homes are eligible for the homestead exclusion.

The exclusion was created from the state Tax Act of 2006 through a formula for property tax relief. The amount varies by property and school district and is only for a qualified primary residence.

City resident Chris Savage said he took one look at the tax bill and thought something was wrong.

“I knew if it did go up, it was too drastic of an increase,” he said. “And I read the paper, and remember reading that Butler school district didn't raise its taxes.”

When he realized the exclusion wasn’t applied to the bill, he consulted his neighbors and found it wasn’t applied to theirs either.

“My 95-year-old neighbor was just going to pay it,” he said. “Not everyone knows this.”

Hunt and White both said residents who overpaid in taxes will receive refunds. The deadline to pay is 60 days from when the bill was issued, Hunt said.