NORWICH – At the end of each year, Chenango County’s school districts and villages are made whole when the taxes owed don’t match the amount collected.

The county relevies the unpaid taxes, pays the entities up front and at the end of four years, conducts a tax sale to recover whatever is left in arrears by then, plus penalties. The Chenango County Board of Supervisors went through the same official process on Monday again this year; with the amounts to be paid out to school districts and villages by April of 2013.

The total amount uncollected for 2012 was a bit more than $4.3 million, or nearly $300,000 more in arrears than last year. A good portion of the increase can be attributed to Norse Energy’s failure to remit to the Sherburne-Earlville district due to bankruptcy, Treasurer William Craine said. The amount of unpaid school taxes in Smyrna (where the majority of the county’s producing natural gas wells were drilled) to the S-E district jumped $234,000 over last year.

The amount of unpaid taxes in Chenango County this year compares to $3.65 million in 2010/2011, $3.5 million in 2009/10 and $3.2 million in 2008/09.

The county’s growing burden wasn’t overlooked by at least one lawmaker before the relevies were approved. Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston, pointed out that despite Norse’s failure to pay, the amount is still the highest it has ever been. “This is not a good (economic) indicator,” he said.

Finance Committee Vice Chairman Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, told members of the board of supervisors Monday that many other counties have to borrow each year in order to cover the amount owed. “It’s obviously why the county has to maintain a large surplus,” he said. “We have to, by law, cover the schools.”

Chenango County is currently debt free and has about $20.3 million in reserves.

The following towns have the highest amount in uncollected school taxes (not all are owed to Chenango County school districts):

• Greene $440,437

• Afton $434,810