BUTLER TWP — Butler Township's proposed 2022 budget does not call for a tax increase for residents, according to township manager Tom Knights.

Knights said at a budget workshop meeting Thursday that the township will focus instead on earning revenues through other opportunities to fund its departments in 2022.

He said user fees, the township garbage contract and recycling and future development could be bigger sources of income for the township in the future.

“We need to be vigilant when revenue opportunities arise,” Knights said. “We really want people to be thoughtful, mindful, creative at looking at different revenue services.”

Township commissioners will make a motion on the budget proposal later this month.

Knights also said the budgets in 2021 and 2022 are reduced from previous years to account for a loss in revenue because of COVID-19. He said the township reduced its expenses by about 5% to account for a loss of about 5% of usual revenue.

He said the loss of money going through the township through business, development and services threw the budget into disarray for the past 18 months.

The budget calls for no increase in spending from the zoning department, according to zoning officer Jesse Hines. Butler Township Police Chief John Hays said he tried to keep his department's budget as low as possible. His 2022 budget request came out to about $2.8 million.

Commissioner chairman Dave Zarnick said proposing the budget is always difficult as a whole and for each department. However, he said it is a necessary evil, and he appreciates the department heads each trying to keep their costs as low as possible, at least for the time being.

“You need equipment to maintain services that the people of the township request and require and are used to,” Zarnick said. “I hope they appreciate the time and effort that goes into it.”

Knights also said federal money the township received for COVID-19 pandemic recovery will be difficult to allocate, but the township has until 2024 to spend it.

“We're going to use it for what it's allocated for,” Zarnick said.

Knights compared the changes in the budget to the changes in cable service in recent years, in that many people are cutting cable in favor of paying for subscription services. He used the metaphor to explain why the township needs to look at other funding sources to bring in annual revenue.

“It's not a drastic curve when you look at the last three-year average where that cable franchise is, but you can certainly see where it's going,” Knights said. “And right now, we don't have anything readily running up to take its place.”

The next meeting of the township commissioners will be at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15.