ShoppingTown Mall NY LLC, the owner of ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt, has directed the mall to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The directive came Tuesday from Edward Skyaroff, CEO of ShoppingTown Mall LLC.

“We expect the federal bankruptcy court to treat the Mall fairly and without any preconceived biases,” Sklyaroff said in a statement. “The bankruptcy proceedings and recent appraisals will expose how the Town of Dewitt and Onondaga County have grossly over-inflated the assessed value of the Mall for years.”

The struggling mall has been locked in legal battles with the county and Town of DeWitt for several years now over the value of the property.

Moonbeam Capital Investments, the mall's parent company, has been trying to have the value of the property cut by 90 percent to $3.6 million. Currently, DeWitt assesses the mall's value at more than $36 million. Moonbeam owes nearly $10 million in back taxes on the mall.

Just last week, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, who has made fighting delinquent properties a primary part of his tenure, announced the county was filing new action against ShoppingTown, as well as Great Northern Mall in Clay and DMI Acquisitions, LLC, over owed sewer charges. According to McMahon, ShoppingTown owes $371,000 in sewer unit bills.

McMahon said the county will be pushing forward with their tax foreclosure to take over the property in October.