Schuylkill County will receive $31,200 from Shenandoah Borough as a settlement in the suit filed against the borough for its failure to make payments in lieu of taxes for a pilot program.

The agreement approved Thursday calls for the borough to pay $15,600 on or before Dec. 31 and again on or before June 30, 2022.

Commissioner Gary Hess called it “a fair negotiation” in reaching the amount. At issue was the contention the borough neglected to pay the county $39,582.72 for 2000 to 2015 for the funds collected from the Schuylkill County Housing Authority as part of a federal housing and urban development program where it was “obliged” to make pro rata payments to the district and the county, county solicitor Christopher Hobbs said previously.

The county voted in February to join the Shenandoah Valley School District in the suit. The district and the county found a 1967 agreement saying the borough was to remit the funds. The borough ceased making payments to the district and the county in 2000, Hobbs said. Some payments were made to the county and district for the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Prior negotiations to reach a solution before the lawsuit were unsuccessful.

Shenandoah District solicitor Robert Matta said Monday the school board voted at a regularly scheduled school board meeting Oct. 27 to accept $105,000 in two equal payments of $52,500. The first payment is due on or before Dec. 31 with the second on or before June 30, 2022. He said the district will receive most of the money it was seeking, which was $134,487.63.

Matta said the borough has been making the payments for 2020 and 2021. He said the borough had agreed to settle the matter at an October meeting.

James Amato, borough solicitor, was not available for comment Monday.