BUTLER TWP — Center Township officials said Monday that a proposed tax increment financing district along North Duffy Road could lead to the creation of thousands of high paying jobs.

They discussed the district in a presentation to the Butler Township commissioners.

The presentation by Center Township engineer Ron Olsen and solicitor Michael Gallagher touched on everything from procedural elements of the prospective TIF — the VA Butler Healthcare construction project would be included, but wouldn’t receive TIF money — to projections that Olsen said showed the possibility of as many as 2,000 “high paying” jobs being created by development around the new VA clinic.

“It appears that there are other entities interested in perhaps moving into the Butler community to be near that health center,” Olsen said, referencing the Herold property where developer Cambridge Health Solutions is building a new VA center.

A TIF district allows businesses to pay for improvements instead of paying property taxes.

Center Township officials want a TIF district to include the rest of that 100-acre property as well as property in Butler Township that Olsen said developer are eyeing as prime real estate.

He also said that Center Township officials would ask state Department of Transportation to modify plans it has proposed that would remove Lions Road Bridge and complete the nearby interchange of Route 422 and New Castle Road.

Olsen said the current plan proposes a road that cuts through the residentially-zoned Bocci property in Butler Township, reducing the potential for its development under a TIF plan and reducing its value.

Olsen said his township wants the new, proposed road extended further north to keep more of the property open for development.

“That could really help the traffic situation for the whole Butler community,” Olsen said. “It could be a regional improvement.”

Butler Township officials said that either road proposal — PennDOT’s or the township’s — still would add travel time for emergency vehicles serving that portion of the township.

“A couple minutes matters in an emergency,” said Commissioner Dave Zarnick.

Butler Township solicitor Larry Lutz questioned the TIF’s timing, saying Center Township’s proposed process — creating the TIF district before anyone has agreed to develop the land — didn’t make sense to him.

“This is really backward in my experience with this,” Lutz said.

Gallagher admitted that Center Township officials “don’t have all the answers.”

“There’s a lot of questions to work through,” he said. “We think we’re being good neighbors, and we’re doing the best we can.”

Butler Township officials had previously appointed township manager Ed Kirkwood to serve on a TIF committee, and they said Monday night that it is too early to comment on Center Township’s proposal.