Property owners in the city of Butler can expect to see a lower tax bill this coming year after a 25% decrease to the municipal tax rate was finalized.

City council voted unanimously on Thursday, Dec. 18, to approve the final reading of the tax rate and budget for 2026. These decisions formally change the city’s property tax rate from 44 mills to 33.

Councilman Don Shearer said there were no changes between the preliminary and final budgets. Revenues and expenditures in the budget total $11.21 million, about a 3% increase compared to last year’s $10.87 million.

City officials indicated at a budget meeting on Sept. 23 the Butler Legacy Fund — a $50 million portion of the Butler Area Sewer Authority sale proceeds — could be used to chip away at the city’s debt service.

On Nov. 19, the city made its first steps toward the plan after council voted in favor of the first reading of the tax rate and the moving of $8 million to a new NexTier Wealth Management account to serve as a tax relief investment fund. The funds and any earnings it accrues will be used toward reducing the debt service until it is eliminated.

“That way, we can make the decisions and have the flexibility that all of a sudden, if the market isn’t going anywhere and we say maybe it’s best to pay it off, we have the money aside to do that,” Mayor Bob Dandoy said in November.

Dandoy also previously said a property tax reduction was chosen over some other ideas, such as the elimination of the city’s business privilege tax, as property taxes affect both commercial and residential property owners.