While discussions have only just begun regarding Butler’s 2026 budget, a large part of next year’s parks and recreation expenses may involve Memorial Park.

Mayor Bob Dandoy said a host of rehabilitation projects are under consideration for the park on Memorial Drive. They were discussed during a special budget meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

“There’s some things we want to do with Memorial Park,” Dandoy said. “Remodeling of the bathrooms, resurfacing of the tennis courts and the basketball court there, resurfacing underneath the playground equipment, roofs on a couple of the shelters. I think that's what we'll be focusing on with Memorial Park next year.”

City Council also discussed the possibility of putting together a long-range comprehensive plan for park-related projects, which would also include Pullman Park. Council member Donald Shearer says a cohesive plan would help the city in obtaining grants for park improvements.

“In the past, a council would say, ‘There's a grant there, let's build a project to go after that grant,’” Shearer said. “What we're saying now is, ‘No, let's build the projects we want and then go find the grant.’ The people that give out the grants, that's what they want to see, and so the likelihood of us being eligible and finding the grants goes way up.”

During Monday’s meeting, there also was talk of including money in the 2026 budget for the construction of a new skate park at Father Marinaro Park, a project spearheaded by the recently established nonprofit Butler Area Skatepark Association.

Council member Dan Herr — also the city’s director of parks and recreation — proposed setting aside $1.2 million for the skate park in the 2026 budget, an amount that would cover removing Father Marinaro Park’s existing ramps.

However, on Wednesday, Dandoy told the Butler Eagle that the skate park was a lower-priority item due to the projected price tag.

The city is reengaging in talks to potentially renew its relationship with Berkheimer Tax Services as its tax collector.

At a city council meeting earlier this month, Dandoy announced that the city was ready to outsource its tax collection duties to Olivia W. Mathews, who performs the same function for Butler Township.

The situation came about because of a technical issue which rendered Berkheimer unable to use new web-based tax collection software from RBA Professional Data Systems. All municipalities in Butler County are required to use RBA software after a resolution that was passed in February.

However, during Monday’s meeting, he announced that the situation between the city and Berkheimer had changed.

“We had a deadline, and we had to let them know about the contract by the end of September,” Dandoy said. “At the 11th hour, Berkheimer reached out and they extended it by 30 days. They said, ‘Please give us a chance to see what we can work out here.’”