HARRISBURG -- The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority and the soon-to-open Rivers Casino have been given more time to resolve a dispute over when the casino should start making annual payments of $7.5 million to the authority.

Both sides "asked for more time, and I agreed to give them additional time to continue negotiations," Cyrus Pitre, chief enforcement counsel for the state Gaming Control Board, said yesterday.

"They tell me they are close and are hoping to work something out," he said. "They requested that no action be taken by the board at this time."

The SEA wants the casino to start making the annual payments by Oct. 1. The payments will go for debt service on the bonds that were sold to build the new Consol Energy Arena in the Uptown neighborhood.

But casino officials said the new slots parlor won't open until Aug. 9, which doesn't give them much time to accumulate revenue before the payments are due. Casino officials are hoping not to have to start the payments until 2010 at the earliest.

Mr. Pitre said that if the two sides don't have an agreement by sometime in August, "All bets are off," and the Gaming Board would likely get involved.