By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Town Council agreed on Wednesday to a 40 percent assessment reduction for the St. Lawrence Centre mall.

“We’ve got to do what we can to make the mall sustainable,” Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said following the unanimous vote.

The deal means the mall, which has about half of its store space empty, gets a 40 percent assessment cut. It is now assessed at $3,275,250. The former value was $5,458,750.

This means they will pay $13,872.82 in town taxes, a $9,248.55 decrease, and $59,293.14 in school taxes, a $39,528.76 drop.

To close the gap, town taxpayers’ bills will go up by 2 cents per thousand inside the village and 3 cents per thousand outside the village, Gray said.

The agreement includes a stipulation to submit to the town annual financial reports.

“If sales go up dramatically, we can adjust their assessment,” Gray said.

He believes the settlement is “in everyone’s best interest.”

“Typically if we go to court, the property owner wins,” he said.

The deal covers only the mall, not the arena or outlying parcels.