BUTLER TWP — The township commissioners on April 21 will consider adopting a plan to spend the $2.4 million from the sale last year of the Deshon Woods property.

The money has been in a savings account since April 1, 2013, when the township sold 15.9 acres on South Duffy Road to a developer then known as Westar. Now named VA Butler Partners, the Ohio developer had an agreement to build a $75 million Veterans Affairs Center on the site.

However, the facility’s location now is less certain after Westar lost its lease with the VA, and the federal agency is yet to spell out the next step.

At the commissioners’ prompting, township manager Ed Kirkwood drew up a proposed allocation plan for the $2.4 million and privately presented it to commissioners in the past month.

Reacting positively to Kirkwood’s suggestions, the commissioners were prepared to vote Monday night on the proposal. But Commissioner Dave Zarnick successfully suggested they postpone the vote to give the public a chance to see the plan and respond.

The proposal, which is available for review on request, is a four-part spending plan with these recommendations:

Recommendation 1: A $300,000 transfer to the general fund to eliminate the need for an annual tax anticipation loan.

“At one time, it made sense to secure an annual tax anticipation loan, since investing the loan proceeds produced investment income greater than the interest expense,” the written proposals states. “Those times are long gone.”

Although the township did not take a tax anticipation loan in 2014, Kirkwood said such a need today would cost the township $9,000 to $11,000 in interest.

Recommendation 2: Create a partial debt service sinking fund of $750,000. The township has a unbudgeted principal and interest debt service of $3.9 million, scheduled for completion in 2029. The average annual debt payments is $261,776.

The proposed investment would be “laddered” into 15 $50,000 interest-bearing accounts maturing at different rates. If the money is not needed for debt service when the accounts mature, those proceeds could be redirected to other operating costs.

Recommendation 3: Establish a $667,500 stormwater/major infrastructure fund. This money could be used, for example, to repair roads, stormwater pipes, and the township’s two bridges.

Recommendation 4: Transfer $667,500 for a capital equipment fund. This fund could be used to replace vehicles or equipment, including the in-car videos cameras in police cars.

“I have only considered those items that will result in immediate and long lasting cost savings or for those items that have an extended life,” Kirkwood wrote in the report.

Zarnick was the only commissioner who said he had concerns with the proposal. However, he did not name those concerns, and he said he already talked about them with Kirkwood.

Township solicitor Larry Lutz said the policy could be adopted immediately. However, individual expenditures still would have to go through the annual budgeting review and approval before the money can be spent.

The township’s 2014 budget of $8.9 million held the property tax line at 11.25 mills, without use of this money.