NORWICH – With help from Chenango County, the school districts serving its youth and the villages within its borders are made whole each year when the amount of taxes collected falls short of the amount billed.

The Chenango County Board of Supervisors adopted resolutions earlier this week to cover the districts’ and villages’ unpaid taxes. The action authorizes the county tax department to relevy the unpaid amounts, to pay the entities up front, and – at the end of four years – to conduct a property tax sale for recovering whatever is left in arrears by then, plus penalties.

The total amount due for 2010/2011/2012 (depending on the tax billing cycle) is a bit more than $4 million, of which $359,000 represents unpaid City of Norwich School taxes. The county will compensate the districts this month and the villages by April of next year.

At Monday’s board meeting, Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan asked for clarification about which county surplus account was being tapped for the annual obligation, whether the amount was growing each year and whether the county should budget or set aside money in a separate account to cover it.

Government Accounting Standards Board rules preclude budgeting for the amount, according to Deputy County Treasurer Ardean Young. GASB is currently the source of generally accepted accounting principles used by state and local governments in the United States.