City council is looking at possibly raising city property taxes to pay for street repairs.

Council members Tuesday night discussed a possible tax increase in the debt service to do that work.

Councilman Joe Bratkovich, who oversees the city streets department, said no one wants a tax increase, but after the city spent just $70,000 on street repairs last year, and half of that was for installing curbside ramps to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, something must be done.

The city's property tax rate is 37.5 mills, which is split up this way: 30 mills for general purposes; 5 mills for debt service; 2 mills for recreation; and 0.5 mill for the Butler Public Library.

The council discussed a tax increase of from 4 to 8 mills for the city's debt service, which would provide $250,000 to $500,000 for street repairs.

Since the tax money would not be collected completely until spring, the city would need to get a loan for the amount early in the year.

Bratkovich said, "We won't be able to fix everything, of course, but $500,000 would provide a significant change."

No action will be taken on the proposal at the council's meeting Thursday.

However, the council will vote Thursday on whether to direct the city clerk to seek proposals for a $600,000 tax revenue anticipation note for 2010.

That kind of loan is used to cover a municipality's expenses early in the year before tax revenues begin arriving in March and April.

Butler took a $1 million loan every year for almost a decade through 2007. In 2008, that loan was reduced to $300,000 and in 2009, the city took no loan at all.