Board to improve stadium, pending court's authorization

SALEM -- The city school board has agreed to make improvements to Reilly Stadium with $1.6 million in property tax money collected but never spent.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Courts must authorize the expenditure, which the board approved Thursday, before it can occur, Superintendent Dr. David Brobeck said today.
School officials have yet to decide what improvements will be made to the stadium, he added.
The $1.6 million was collected on a 1.3-mill tax levy that was put on the rolls in 1990 to pay off a $2.4 million loan the district took out to renovate the stadium and to make general school improvements.
The loan was for 20 years, but it was paid off sometime in 2001 or 2002. The 1.3 mills should have been removed from the tax rolls then.
Alice Gunning, who took over as district treasurer in March, discovered the error after reviewing district finances.
Working through the courts, the district is having the 1.3 mills removed. The obligation should be off by the time the 2004 first-half property tax bills are issued next year.
Removing the millage will save the owner of a $100,000 home about $40 annually.