Butler County property taxes will likely not be going up next year.
Chief Clerk Scott Andrejchak presented the 2017 budget to the Butler County commissioners Wednesday morning and it did not include a real estate tax increase.
Officials stressed the county’s revenues and expenses were realistically balanced at nearly $63 million.
“These predictions are based on actual figures,” Andrejchak said. “And there is no reduction in service levels.”
The biggest county expense continues to be employee costs and benefits.
“We’re obviously on much more solid ground,” Commissioner Leslie Osche, board chairwoman, said. “There’s not fluff in this budget.”
Osche did stress, however, that there is a lot more work to be done.
“Going forward, there are going to have to be conversations discussing not only staff contracts but the number of staff that we have,” she said. “Operating costs remain steady. The only place we really have to look is the number of staffing.”
This is the first budget compiled under the current board. Last December, the commissioners increased county property taxes by 12 percent.
The commissioners will officially vote on the budget in three weeks.
