Towards the end of the 20th century, Butterworth underwent a period of decline. The town suffered significantly due to administrative decentralisation. The North Seberang Perai District Office, along with the district's police headquarters and a government-run hospital, was moved out of the town. By the time of the relocation of the Seberang Perai Municipal Council from Butterworth to Bukit Mertajam in 2006, the town's infrastructure had deteriorated extensively. In 1988, the passenger platform of the town's ferry terminal collapsed, costing 32 lives, while in 2001, a fire destroyed a three-storey bus station near the ferry terminal.