Butler’s proposal to rent out its police coverage is receiving some interest from other municipalities.

City council on Thursday will vote on a resolution that would allow it to lend police to other municipalities for enforcing traffic laws.

“This shows (any municipality) I go to that we’ve already authorized the move,” Mayor Tom Donaldson told council Tuesday night.

The mayor said he has proposed the idea to four municipalities — East Butler and Summit, Franklin and Center townships.

Summit Township has expressed preliminary interest in the idea.

Donaldson said the city is offering its police presence at an annual rate of $25,000 for 10 hours of weekly coverage.

City police would only supply traffic coverage, but Donaldson said the city’s officers would be able to make any other arrests they come across.

State police would continue to respond to all incidents in the municipality.

Donaldson said speeding and weight limits are concerns expressed by the outside municipalities.

“We’d just be there for traffic enforcement,” he said.

He said other municipalities would be able to buy coverage in 10-hour blocks.

The city would not be paying additional officers to work during the coverage, meaning the officers typically working in the city would be leaving during their regular shifts.

Councilman Bill May expressed concern about the drop in coverage on city streets.

“We just took the officer off the desk to make the city streets safer, now we’re taking him back off our streets,” he said.

Donaldson said the additional revenue an agreement would bring in justifies the 10 hours per week officers would be away.

“That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to move them out of the desk,” he said. “And I think it’s a good opportunity considering the city’s financial situation.”

Donaldson added officers outside the city would be able to respond back to the city if something would occur.

“They’d only be minutes away,” he said.

While the city has received some interest, Donaldson stressed discussions are in early stages.

He said the vote Thursday night would just show outside municipalities that the city is willing to sit down and negotiate an agreement.

Donaldson said he hopes the city will hire additional part-time officers next year, which would help with the potential coverage.

The average wage for a patrol officer is about $28 per hour. Donaldson said there would not be an issue with the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police union.

Donaldson said he someday would like to see a regional police force led by the city department.

“I hope this works out and other municipalities see the benefit to it,” he said.