MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Middletown City Council voted Monday to advance $200,000 from its general fund to the storm water fund for water payment revenue during a months-long utility billing outage.
The temporary transfer will pad the storm water fund since payments have not been distributed due to inactive billing, according to a staff report.
Any money that has been paid by residents has been credited to their accounts but has not been distributed yet to any fund.
The $200,000 will be repaid to the general fund once utility billing resumes in January, according to the staff report.
As for the restored bill in January, a city release Nov. 25 said: “While the first bill may be sizeable due to not billing in recent months, the city is currently working on a plan for a grace period and/or payment plan that will allow residents to catch up on payments over a period of several months.”
The same release said details of the payment plan and/or grace period would be released the following week, though details have not been released to the public or to the Journal-News.
City Manager Ashley Combs told Journal-News on Tuesday that the city is still determining final details of the plan and will be notifying the public soon.
The city previously voted Dec. 16 to transfer $800,000 from the general fund to the solid waste and transit fund.
The solid waste fund supports garbage collection, and the transit fund supports the city’s contract with the Butler County Regional Transit Authority.
Money transferred will ensure the solid waste fund remains positive at the end of the year and will provide cash flow to maintain operations, according to a staff report.
Because of delays in providing required financial reports to BCRTA, the bus agency has not been able to initiate federal reimbursements.
Middletown has continued to pay invoices from BCRTA to maintain uninterrupted transit service for residents despite the disruption, according to the staff report.
Because of this, transit fund expenses have temporarily exceeded incoming revenues due to the delay in federal reimbursements.
The entire $800,000 will be repaid once water bills are generated in January and federal reimbursements are received.
Key information about the cyberattack and water billing:
- A “cybersecurity incident” shut down city systems starting Aug. 16
- The investigation into the incident remains ongoing with the assistance of third-party specialists, and it is not yet known what personal information, if any, may have been affected
- The city posted on Nov. 20 that December water bills would resume after three months of a billing outage
- An initial 25% charge was meant to help with balances owed on missed billings, though the city announced Nov. 21 the “usage adjustment” charge would be removed from residents’ next bill
- In November, the city announced December bills — estimated or actual — would not be sent out after all
- Any payments made during the outage should be credited to accounts
- There will be no water shutoffs in December
- Traditional, actual usage billing will be restored in January
