NORTH NORWICH – The Chenango Industrial Development Agency deviated from normal practice Wednesday and granted a business only a portion of its request for a tax abatement.

The move could result in an estimated $135,000 to the Town of North Norwich’s coffers.

According to minutes from a public hearing held at the North Norwich Town Hall the day before, Norwich Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NPI) has requested an exemption from paying a $300,000 mortgage tax refiling fee. The fee would result from refinancing a $42 million mortgage on the state Route 12 South plant, and comes along with a planned $22 million capital investment in research and development space and new equipment.

In turn, the full-service contract developer and manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals expects to create 52 new jobs initially, plus an additional 27 by 2016. Payroll one year from now would increase from $27.2 million to $31.9 million. (The pharmaceutical company currently employs about 348.) Construction would begin in April, provided NPI officials agree with the action taken and the IDA obtains completed legal approvals from state environmental conservation authorities in sufficient time.

NPI Controller Jeff Ammons responded to the development on Thursday. He said while management appreciates receiving a portion of the abatement requested, it was important for the local business community to realize that NPI contributes significantly to upstate New York’s overall economy.

“I know they (local governments) are under a very demanding fiscal situation. At the same time, we spend probably 75 million dollars a year in labor and overhead and supplies, including capital. If you think about the multiplier effect - to what that means to the upstate economy - it is very powerful.”

The Chenango IDA adopted the resolution after considering comments from North Norwich town officials. Supervisor Dr. Robert Wansor, R-North Norwich, reportedly expressed his town’s decades worth of support for the numerous pharmaceutical entities that have moved in and out of the original Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals facility, but said he is concerned about the town’s financial stability.

“In all of the years we’ve had the pharmacy here, our town has accommodated and tried to help incentivize ...” he reportedly said. “We want to encourage them to be here ... and it’s exciting to hear that NPI is growing and expanding ... but we have small reserves, and money like that would be a windfall for us.” Dr. Wansor, who is in his first year as supervisor, could not be reached for comment. In the public hearing’s minutes, however, he cited the town’s need to replace a 35-year-old gradall for the highway department and a new boiler and half a roof for the town hall. “The town replaced half of a roof last year because things are tight,” Wansor reportedly said.

Instead of the full amount, the Chenango IDA Board of Directors agreed to grant only 55 percent of the filing fee exemption requested, or a $165,000 concession, which would result in $135,000 to the town.