Board wants levy to be continuous

LISBON -- The Columbiana County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Board is asking voters to convert a levy from five years to continuous.
The amount of the levy, 2.5 mills, remains the same under the proposal on the November ballot, explained Gerald Baker, MRDD supervisor. Should voters make the levy continuous, the $2.7 million it now earns annually would remain the same, he explained.
The levy, which expires at the end of 2003, costs the owner of a $70,000 home about $40 annually.
Money generated is used to fund many of the operations the disabilities board undertakes for the mentally and physically disabled. Those include educating about 200 preschool and school-age children, offering workshops and occupational training for about 260 people and providing residential services for about 46 people.