NORWICH – County business leaders approved a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the buyer of the Eaton Center despite attempts from City of Norwich officials to acquire property taxes over a shorter time period.

Industrial Development Agency directors voted unanimously to offer Pennsylvania businessman Randal Hadeed a 95 percent tax break for the first year to be increased by 10 percent in each of the following nine years. It represents at 50 percent tax savings over the 10-year period. At a rate of around $60 per $1,000 of assessed value, that would garner Hadeed a savings of about $450,000.

The purchase price was set at $1 million. Proceeds from the sale go to the Area Corp., official owners of the building. As PILOT agent, the IDA will receive a one time project fee of about $4,500 and 1 percent of the tax benefit annually.

The 200,000 square foot office building is valued at $1.7 million. (During discussions of the building’s pending sale last month, Chenango County’s economic development leader Maureen Carpenter said the value was $2.3 million. The adjacent Norwich campus of SUNY Morrisville purchased a parking lot since then.)