The owners of ShoppingTown mall have begun making token payments toward their back taxes while they try to save the nearly vacant shopping mall in bankruptcy proceedings. But the court-ordered $25,000 monthly payments won’t put much of a dent in a delinquent tax bill that Onondaga County, N.Y., officials say exceeds $10.3 million, Syracuse.com reported. At that rate, it would take more than 30 years to clear the debt. As for current property taxes, a Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge overseeing ShoppingTown’s case slashed what the mall owners must pay while the bankruptcy proceeds. Judge Carlota Bohm issued an order last week setting ShoppingTown’s temporary tax payments and allowing the mall owners to borrow money while they try to restructure the mall’s finances. ShoppingTown Mall NY LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in August. In addition to the $25,000 monthly payments against back taxes, the mall owners must pay current school, town and county taxes while the bankruptcy case plays out, Bohm ruled. But current taxes will be based on a property value of $4.5 million — not the $36.7 million assessment set by the town of DeWitt, the judge ordered.
