Any money that has been paid by residents has been credited to their accounts but has not been distributed yet to any fund.
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 Nov. 20 December water bills would resume after three months of a billing outage.
- An initial 25 percent charge was meant to help with balance owned 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.
As for the restored bill in January, a city release in November 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.”
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