BUTLER TWP — Butler Area School District is proposing a $120.71 million budget for the 2026-27 school year — a roughly 2.53% increase from the current year.

The school board does not intend to raise taxes this year, keeping rates flat at 109.64 mills. This would be the second year in a row the district declined to raise its millage rate.

At the board’s meeting on Monday, May 4, it proposed a balanced 2026-27 budget with no deficit, setting expected revenues at the same total as spending.

According to the budget proposal, over 49% of its revenue would come from local sources — $59.27 million. Over 48% of its revenue would come from the state — $58.3 million. Only 2.6% of the district’s revenue is projected to come from federal sources.

Superintendent Brian White said the district intentionally projected revenue from the state to be lower than current education funding proposals from Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“We have built this budget based on the assumption that the governor is not going to get everything he asks,” White said.

It is unlikely school board members will know soon exactly how much funding will come from the state government. Shapiro’s administration has proposed over $8.3 billion in total basic education funding for 2026-27, up by around $50 million from what last year’s budget provided.

The state’s deadline to pass a budget is June 30, though last year’s budget was over four months late, with a divided legislature failing to come to an agreement.

“We estimated lower than the governor’s proposal based off of rhetoric in Harrisburg,” White said.

The biggest expenditures from the school district come from salaries at nearly $47.5 million, employee benefits at $35.6 million and other purchased services at $19.1 million.

Within the proposal, administrators highlighted the current consumer price index and inflation rates to show how much energy rates have gone up. According to the presentation, energy costs have gone up just over 12% over a 12-month period, as of March 2026.

“It’s a huge driver. We’re getting hit with gas costs. We’re getting hit with electricity rates,” White said. “While other things may be staying somewhat in line, energy is not.”

Among the district’s strategies for keeping costs under control, the presentation included a desire to “advocate for legislation that reduces unfunded mandates.”

White estimated Pennsylvania has roughly 180 to 200 educational mandates for its districts. While some of them are important, he said, others provide additional, unnecessary costs the state does not cover.

Administrators have spent months trying to put the budget together while considering external factors, like state funding.

“We should commend everyone who puts this monumental thing together and makes it all work, and has to make cuts and increases and whatever,” board President Al Vavro said. “It’s a balanced budget and that’s tremendous in this day and age.”

The budget will be displayed on the district’s website for over 30 days for public inspection. The board will vote on officially approving the 2026-27 budget at its June 8 meeting.