To pay its bills on time, Erie County this year will borrow up to $110 million - an improvement over the recent past.

Past county borrowings - sacrificing millions of dollars in interest and fees - were to help pay workers and vendors and sustain a government that spends about $3 million a day.

The highest short-term borrowing came in 2005, when officials sought $160 million. They would have borrowed more had they not refinanced the county's tobacco settlement for a one-time gain and raised the sales tax at midyear.

A loan of $110 million for 2006 was portrayed this week as a harbinger of the county's recovery, even if Wall Street analysts have not yet responded with an upgrade of the credit rating.

"Our cash flow is starting to get back to normal," said Deputy Comptroller Gregory Gach.

Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz will ask the full Legislature, when it meets at 2 p.m. today, to agree to borrow up to $110 million - a "revenue anticipation note" that will be repaid in a year from tax income and state and federal reimbursements. The county also plans to borrow about $55 million for capital needs, including repairs to roads, bridges, Ralph Wilson Stadium, and Erie County Medical Center.

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