CHENANGO COUNTY - A new proposal that’s worked its way through the state legislature may bring some financial relief to Chenango County as it grapples with losses incurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

Legislation introduced at the request of the State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has been signed into law. Advocates say the measure will help ease the financial difficulties facing local governments and school districts and give them greater fiscal flexibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new law offers financial and budgetary flexibility to local governments and schools by extending the timeframe in which borrowed money must be repaid. What’s more, it allows governing bodies to borrow from other funds within its budget and bypasses the mandate that those funds be paid back by the end of the fiscal year. Those funds would instead have to be paid back by the end of the next fiscal year.

Although this new legislation may come as a relief to counties that have already borrowed money, Chenango County is one of only two in the state not saddled with debt, said Chenango County Treasurer William Craine, and so it may not see the benefits of this legislation that other counties might.