BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The New York state budget is due on April 1, but that is also a day many Buffalo Bills fans have their eyes on for another reason.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has repeatedly said she expects a deal in place for a new Bills stadium in time for the budget. On Wednesday, Spectrum News 1 asked Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz if "Bills fans in Western New York shouldn't go into a state of panic" if there is no announcement by the long-awaited pseudo deadline.

"I'm not going to go into a state of panic and I'm a Bills fan," Poloncarz said. "I like where we are, and as I said, while we don't have a signed agreement, we have resolved a lot of the big terms."

The county executive, however, followed up by saying he's hopeful the state and county will be able to announce something by April 1. If the figurative goal posts are moved, it would not be the first time, as at points last year, the governor indicated she wanted a deal by the beginning of January.

"It shouldn't surprise people that it's taken longer than what we hoped for," Poloncarz said. "You have dates in which you want to get things done but that doesn't mean it's going to get it done. Yeah, I'm sure the Bills would have liked to have wrapped up based on what their original request was but that was not going to happen and I'm sure the governor wanted to have things done by the first of the year but that didn't happen, but I like where we are."

Poloncarz has maintained the county and the state won't share details about any agreement until negotiations are complete. He did directly refute a report though, the public would be expected to foot $1 billion of what the state expects to be at least a $1.4 billion price tag.

Poloncarz wrote a book about his involvement in negotiating the last Bills stadium lease in 2013. He said while that one was complicated and helped assure the Bills remained in the region, the cost and construction associated with this one is even more complicated. He opined a bit on the stakes and the pressure he and the governor perhaps are feeling.

“I don't want my legacy and nor does this community want their legacy to be we had an opportunity to close this deal, we could have gotten it done and we didn't," he said.

The county executive said it's not the first time he's seen incorrect details reported about key terms either.

"It bothers me when I see information out there that I know is false but soon enough everyone will know the truth and I think when they do they'll look at it and go that was a pretty good deal," he said.

The Bills, meanwhile, are expected to bring at least a draft of an agreement before NFL owners for a vote at league meetings starting Sunday. The county executive didn't seem to feel any pressure to make an announcement prior to those meetings, even as he acknowledged as more people see details, there are more opportunity for leaks.

"I'll leave it up to the Bills to make a determination on what they're going to discuss at the ownership meeting but I like our position right now," he said.

Poloncarz said the negotiations can be seen basically as two parts. He said the first is construction of the new stadium but the second are the terms and length of a new lease.

He said the construction talks are primarily focused on public land next to the current stadium including current property the county is leasing to the Bills as well as Erie Community College vacant land.

He said closing ECC's Orchard Park campus is not part of the negotiations but pointed out the college is in separate financial straits that need to be addressed.