PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri’s plan to defer $10 million in settlement money the state has offered to the victims of The Station nightclub fire would only delay payment of the funds for a matter of months, the governor’s press secretary said yesterday.

Carcieri is planning to allocate payment of that money in the budget that begins on July 1, spokeswoman Amy Kempe said.

Lawyers for the more than 300 victims of the catastrophic West Warwick fire — which killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others — had hoped the money would be divided among the plaintiffs by spring. But Kempe said yesterday “the main part of the reasoning” behind Carcieri’s proposal to delay the payments until the next fiscal year was based on the slow pace the case is taking in U.S. District Court.

“It appeared that details and finalizing the settlement were moving very slow and are still being worked out. It is our intent to put it in next year’s budget,” Kempe said.

The attorney general’s office, which has represented the state in the civil suits brought by the fire victims, said it was not consulted about delaying the payment.

“The governor’s office called us Wednesday afternoon to let us know about it, but we hadn’t been involved in any discussions with him about the timing or method of payment,” spokesman Michael J. Healey said. “As the state’s lawyers, we advised the governor and the legislature to settle because we think settling is in Rhode Island’s best interests, but we are not part of the appropriations process.

“Ultimately, by law, the legislature must approve the $10 million. Also, in our many discussions with counsel throughout the various stages of this litigation, we’ve never committed to a specific payment timetable or method of appropriation because doing so would clearly have been beyond our authority,” Healey said.

tbreton@projo.com