The Butler County General Authority on Thursday approved a resolution to issue a note of up to $3 million to refinance mortgages for group homes for people with intellectual disabilities owned by Valley Special Needs Programs Inc., which operates as Valley Community Services.

The homes include 10 in Butler and the area surrounding the city, and 12 others in Armstrong, Bedford, Indiana, Mercer and Westmoreland counties.

A Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, or TEFRA, hearing — a public hearing required by the Internal Revenue Service for nonprofit borrowers issuing tax exempt debt — was held Thursday morning before the authority meeting, but no one attended.

Jamie Inferrera, of Dinsmore and Shohl LLP, who serves as bond counsel for Valley Community Services, said the note creates no obligations or liability for the authority or county.

The Butler County commissioners will have to approve the refinancing at their meeting next week. Approval by the commissioners in the five other counties also is needed for the refinancing to proceed, Inferrera said.

The goal is to refinance the mortgages at lower interest rates to reduce Valley Community Services’ payments, she said.

Laurel Capital Corporation of Wexford has agreed to buy the note.

Melanie Heinack, Valley Community Services controller, said the organization provides services to people with intellectual disabilities. It owns and operates group homes that provide “24-7” staffing and care, and provides nonresidential support services across the state, she said.

“They’re all ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible homes, but they look like your typical home. So when you’re driving by, we don’t have signs in the yard or anything like that advertising for Valley or anything like that. It’s just like driving past a normal residential home in the area. A lot of people don’t even realize where we are,” Heinack said.

She said county human service departments have waiting lists of people with disabilities looking for places to live and refer them to Valley Community Services to fill those needs.

“We really need these group homes because where else do these individual go. So it’s really great that we can do this and we can provide some place safe and good for them to live,” Heinack said.

The organization would like to build four new two or four bedroom homes per year, she said.

Inferrera said the organization plans to issue three additional notes over the next three years to build new homes or rehabilitate existing homes.

The authority was established by the Butler County Commissioners in 2001 for the purpose of “financing working capital, acquiring, holding, constructing, financing, improving, maintaining, operating, owning or leasing projects that benefit municipalities or school districts” anywhere in the state. according to information on the county’s website.