The Butler County Commission approved the levy of 23.5 mills of ad valorem tax at its Monday meeting.

These are not new taxes, but the commission, as a formality, must approve the millage every year. Of the 23.5 mills, 7 mills go to the General Fund, 4.5 mills to the Road and Bridge Fund and 12 mills to the Butler County School System.

The value of a mill is one-tenth of a cent.

“This is not an increase in the tax,” Commissioner Frank Hickman said. “We don’t have the authority to do that. This is simply an acknowledgement of what the mill rates are that will be used to fund our county government as dictated by the state government.”

In other business, the commission rescinded a motion to rent two portable office containers to serve as voting facilities for the upcoming election cycle.

At its January meeting, the commission had approved a motion to lease the office containers for a 10-month period to serve as the voting precincts in the Friendship Community and Monterey after the locations previously used as voting houses were deemed unfit for use. The total cost for the two buildings would have been $6,528.50.

Instead of leasing the buildings, the county purchased two buildings from a state surplus sale. The cost of the two units totaled $6,000.

The commission also voted to accept a $65,648 bid from Cobb Environmental for the installation of new fuel tanks at the county’s fuel dispensing facility located on Pettibone Road.