SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The owners of ShoppingTown mall have begun making token payments toward their back taxes while they try to save the nearly vacant shopping mall in bankruptcy proceedings.

But the court-ordered $25,000 monthly payments won’t put much of a dent in a delinquent tax bill that Onondaga County officials say exceeds $10.3 million. At that rate, it would take more than 30 years to clear the debt.

As for current property taxes, a Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge overseeing ShoppingTown’s case slashed what the mall owners must pay while the bankruptcy proceeds.

Judge Carlota Bohm issued an order last week setting ShoppingTown’s temporary tax payments and allowing the mall owners to borrow money while they try to restructure the mall’s finances. ShoppingTown Mall NY LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in August.

In addition to the $25,000 monthly payments against back taxes, the mall owners must pay current school, town and county taxes while the bankruptcy case plays out, Bohm ruled. But current taxes will be based on a property value of $4.5 million – not the $36.7 million assessment set by the town of DeWitt, the judge ordered.

(In a separate legal case, ShoppingTown has challenged the assessment as much too high. In 2014, mall owner Moonbeam Capital Investments bought the property for $13.6 million.)

As a result of the bankruptcy order, Moonbeam last week paid annual school taxes of $110,223 rather than the $899,425 they were billed in October. In January, the mall is scheduled to pay town and county taxes of $106,330 rather than the roughly $563,000 it was billed last year.

County Executive Ryan McMahon called the judge’s order “small progress’’ that allows local municipalities to collect some tax payments while the bankruptcy proceeding goes forward.

The county will treat the temporary tax rates set by Bohm as full payment, McMahon said. As long as Moonbeam makes the payments, the county will no longer reimburse the town and school district for unpaid amounts, as it has in past years, he said.

McMahon said ShoppingTown is no longer worth the $36.7 million it’s assessed for because the property has deteriorated under current ownership. But he disputed Moonbeam’s assertion that it’s only worth $2 million.

In her order Bohm said her decision to value the property at $4.5 million would have no bearing on the ultimate resolution of the property assessment in court.

Bohm’s Dec. 5 order allows ShoppingTown to borrow up to $500,000 at 3 percent interest to keep the mall running. The lender is Beacon Commercial Limited, a Nevada corporation established by Moonbeam, according to public records.

The order also allows the mall to pay Moonbeam Leasing and Management $7,500 a month to operate the facility.

Onondaga County is the mall’s biggest creditor, based on its claim for back taxes. County officials will continue efforts in bankruptcy court to take control of the mall, McMahon said.

“At the end of the day, we believe we’re going to get paid money that we are owed and/or have title to the property,’’ McMahon said.