The Chenango County IDA has extended a PILOT agreement for the railroad which has been largely inoperable since 2006. (Photo by Shawn Magrath)

NORWICH – With a newly expired tax break for the defunct New York Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation (NYS&W), the Chenango County Industrial Development Agency has opted for a five-year extension of the agreement that will continue over the next five years.

The Chenango County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) board has unanimously passed a resolution extending NYS&W’s 10-year Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) deal that was originally sanctioned in 2013.

Under the renewed PILOT agreement, the Chenango County IDA continues to own the fee title to the 45.5 miles of the railroad and leases it to NYS&W. The new PILOT agreement stipulates that NYS&W is subject to the same provisions of its prior agreement, including railroad preservation and compliance with environmental laws, in exchange for an estimated $124,000 tax break to take place over the course of five years. It will expire in 2029.

According to NYS&W, the PILOT will position the company for “rail banking” which preserves the railroad for potential rail use or future rails to trails recreational use. Unlike an abandoned line, a railbanked corridor can be sold or leased without reverting to adjacent landowners. The Chenango County IDA says that having no PILOT would put the railroad at risk of abandonment and could forfeit economic advantages of the railway or its conversion into a rail trail.