BUTLER TWP — The Butler School District will not apply for a state exceptions to raise property taxes above the state-imposed index for the 2017-18 school year.

The school board approved a resolution Monday night, by a 6-3 vote, stating that it will work within the maximum-allowed 3.3 percent tax increase.

The current tax rate is 97.8 mills, which means that the maximum increase the board could approve in its budget this spring would be a 3.23-mill increase, which would bring the rate to 101.03 mills.

It was estimated that a 3.23-mill increase would bring in an additional $1.3 million in revenue.

One mill generates $1 in tax revenue for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

Deborah Brandstetter, district director of business services, said the district has never used the state exceptions.

Brandstetter estimated that the exceptions would have allowed the district to seek an additional 1.5 mills in increases.

The projected 2017-18 budget, including a 3.23-mill tax increase, would be about $5 million short, according to conservative estimates prepared by the administration.

Though the $5 million shortfall would be a “worst-case scenario,” the administration will start looking at areas where the district could make cuts or create savings, she said.

School board member Bill Halle said he would like to link a tax increase to a specific budgetary need.

“If we were making targeted tax raises that were resolving situations, I would actually vote differently,” he said.

School Board President Nina Teff, who voted against the resolution, said the state exceptions would give the district more flexibility.

“Just because we have the option doesn’t mean that between now and when we officially vote for what the tax increase is, that we can’t target what that is for,” she said in response to Halle.