FONDA — Montgomery County may end up paying more than $100,000 to the tri-county waste authority, MOSA, to end a dispute that’s led to a lawsuit and credit concerns.

The Montgomery-Otsego-Schoharie Solid Waste Management Authority billed Montgomery County $171,369 after the county’s 2007 garbage deliveries fell more than 1,700 tons short of the county’s quota.

MOSA’s budget is structured so that the authority gets paid for handling the amount of solid waste each county is estimated to generate, regardless of whether the trash makes it to MOSA.

Charging a “shortfall penalty” is one of several actions MOSA takes to ensure its financial stability so it can pay back borrowed money to bondholders.

The three counties are responsible for making sure haulers bring their garbage to MOSA, but none of the member counties have adopted so-called flow control laws, so haulers can drop garbage off at sites that charge less than MOSA transfer stations.

Incensed by the fact that they had to spend money for garbage that wasn’t delivered, Montgomery County supervisors in July decided to pay $69,621 — the estimated cost of the shortfall, minus transport.

MOSA filed a lawsuit last week in state Supreme Court in Schoharie County, seeking the remainder of the money. MOSA bond attorney Christine Chale on Monday said the documents ask the court to order payment 20 days from this past Friday.

The lawsuit may not be necessary, however, because Montgomery County supervisors may simply pay the bill after all, Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Vito Greco said Monday.

The county Board of Supervisors’ finance committee is scheduled to review a resolution today calling for the county to forward $101,748 to MOSA. The full board will still have to approve the measure after the committee approves it.

Greco said he decided earlier that after legal reviews — one commissioned by MOSA, the other by Montgomery County — he can’t see any reason not to pay the bill.

“We owe it, we have to pay it. I’m not going to fight it. It’s the right thing to do,” Greco said.

The dispute this summer led to credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to issue a warning on both Montgomery County and MOSA credit ratings, currently listed at “A” and “A-,” respectively.

Ratings for the county’s general obligation debt and MOSA’s revenue refunding utility bonds were placed on Standard & Poor’s CreditWatch with “negative implications” as a result of the disputed payment.

MOSA Chairman Ed Wesnofske was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Greco said instead of fighting the setup that governs trash collection in the three-county region, Montgomery County supervisors are taking proactive steps to stem the loss of Montgomery County trash from the system.

County supervisors in July put aside $500,000 in anticipation of an estimated 8,500-ton shortfall in tonnage, and Greco said the new demolition team established in the county could also help minimize costs for taxpayers.

Greco said once buildings start getting torn down, the county can make sure all the debris created gets sent to MOSA, to help compensate for haulers’ bringing waste elsewhere.

“What we have to do is plan and see if we can do something to close that gap,” Greco said.