After searching for a new tax collector, the City of Butler is planning to work with Butler County to collect its real estate and per capita taxes starting in 2026.

City Council voted 4-0 during its forum meeting on Thursday, Nov. 6, to terminate its agreement with Berkheimer Tax Services and appoint county Treasurer Diane Marburger to the role of deputy tax collector in the city.

In September, Councilman Donald Shearer said the city cannot continue its existing contract with Berkheimer due to an unresolvable technical issue regarding software from RBA Professional Data Systems.

All municipalities in Butler County are required to use the software since February.

“The county has a system that we have to report to,” Shearer said in September. “Berkheimer is no longer a viable option because the system doesn’t talk to their system, so we have to find a different solution for the collection of those taxes.”

The cost to the city will be $3 per tax card, which officials remarked on Thursday would be both cheaper and more efficient than Berkheimer, as it split the real estate and per capita taxes into two bills.

During the October forum meeting, Shearer read a statement from city treasurer Linda Graham-Greek on the county’s proposition.

“This is the perfect time to create government efficiencies by implementing one tax bill with one collection point for spring taxes for city residents. Our partnership would eliminate all the duplicity and redundancies the taxpayers currently experience because of the bifurcated billing and collections,” Graham-Greek said in her October statement.

Shearer and Graham-Greek were not in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.