BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The crash of flight 3407, the October 2006 storm and delinquent property taxes. When you factor in these and other overdue payments, it starts adding up pretty fast.

As of right now Erie County is owed $126 million. That's roughly ten percent of the entire county budget.

The bulk of those dollars, $88 million, is local, state and federal reimbursements for services the county has already provided.

Comptroller Mark Poloncarz says, it's taking a lot longer to get money out of the state these days because of the budget crisis.

"What normally would take 30 to 45 days to be reimbursed is going upwards to 60 to 90 days now," said Poloncarz.

Remember the October 2006 storm that downed tree limbs and power lines?

Poloncarz says, the county is waiting for over $2 million, he says, is still owed by the federal government.

"We're spending the money and often we're left holding the bag for not only months by years until we can get reimbursed from the state and federal government," said Poloncarz.

Then there's $750,000 Erie County claims it advanced for out of pocket expenses following the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.

Poloncarz said, "On the night of the crash, Continental and Colgan said they would reimburse the county, but as of now they haven't reimbursed us for a penny."

Erie County sued the airlines in federal court, claiming it was forced to expend unprecedented monetary resources, like overtime for police and emergency personnel and clean up.

What's more, the county is still waiting to collect about $36 million in delinquent property taxes owed for the last four years.

The comptroller says under state law, it can take three years before the county can start foreclosure proceedings against a property owner.

Poloncarz said, "And by that time people have learned how to rig the system. They can pay the furthest year out, the oldest taxes that are due and avoid foreclosure, and they do this a lot."

News 4 asked, "It buys them another year?"

"It buys them another year," said Poloncarz.

Poloncarz says there still money owed by Buffalo office interiors.

That's the business owned by Jim Spano, a close friend of former county executive Joel Giambra.

The company was sued by the attorney general for allegedly overcharging the county for office furniture, and in 2006 agreed to pay the county $225 thousand to settle the lawsuit.

"They still owe over $105,000 to Erie County, which at $2,800 a month, it's going to take some time before they pay that in full."

Regarding the crash of flight 3407, Pinnacle Airlines, the parent company of Colgan Air, sent a statement saying an offer was made on two separate occasions to reimburse the county for overtime costs, and that the airline has been involved in good faith negotiations since the summer of 2009.

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