51.   The Orange County bankruptcy is expected to allow the investment fund to delay payments to the towns and school districts that have money in the fund.

52.   The payment had been delayed, she said, because state lawmakers did not reach agreement on a budget until late July, nearly four months late.

53.   There is no temptation to delay easy payments until March.

54.   They survive through barter, delaying tax payments, paying their workers with food instead of money or squeezing tax breaks and other concessions from regional authorities.

55.   They delayed payment of some bills, gave most federal employees a few days off, and never disrupted essential military, law-enforcement or health services.

56.   This forced the county to lapse into default as it delayed payments to noteholders into next year.

57.   Thousands of frustrated doctors joined a campaign against Oxford Health Plans, the big managed-care provider, saying Oxford was deliberately delaying payments.

58.   To avoid this cost, the company aims to delay payments for oil and liquefied natural gas, Sohn said.

59.   While the new approach is expected to boost sales, it may hurt the bottom line because the payments are delayed.

60.   Without state reimbursement, several hospitals have delayed payments to suppliers and warned that they would lay off workers and shut down clinics unless state reimbursements resumed.