Mailboxes across Middletown delivered an unwelcome surprise this month as water customers opened bills that many say are wildly out of line with their usual charges. Some residents told local outlets their latest statements came in at nearly five times what they typically pay, even though they kept paying during the months-long outage that followed an August cyberattack. City officials insist those payments have been credited and are urging customers to log into the billing portal or call the utility office so staff can sort out any apparent mistakes.
Billing restored and invoices rolling out
The city brought its water-billing system back online in mid-January and is pushing out statements in four cycles tied to service addresses, so not every customer is seeing a bill at the same time. As reported by the Journal-News, roughly 24,000 water customers were expected to receive bills over the following weeks. Officials say InvoiceCloud accounts have been updated to reflect payments made while the system was offline, and autopay has been turned off so large back balances are not pulled automatically from customers’ accounts.
Residents say bills jumped
Once statements started landing, frustrated neighbors began comparing notes online and with reporters, saying they faithfully paid through the outage only to see big balances appear once regular billing resumed. Some customers told FOX19 that their new bills were nearly five times higher than normal. City officials are asking residents to look closely at their statements, double-check payment history, and reach out before they re-enable autopay.
City response
In a written statement reported by FOX19, the city explained, “Water billing resumed for residents and businesses in mid-January. The Water Services Department bills in four cycles based on the service address. Statements are available on Invoice Cloud and/or delivered by mail during each customer’s billing cycle.” The statement added, “Any payments made to your account during the cyber incident have been accounted for in your latest statement,” and reminded residents that late fees will not be charged on usage incurred during the outage while the current grace period is in place.
How to check and contest a charge
Customers are being urged to log into InvoiceCloud and hang onto any receipts for payments made while city servers were down, since those records can help flag discrepancies quickly. According to the City of Middletown, residents can reach the Utility Billing Office at (513) 425-7870, and the water-services FAQ on the city’s website outlines how to file a dispute if a bill does not match personal records.
Grace period and payment plans
The city has set a grace period that runs through Aug. 31, 2026, during which it will not assess late fees on usage charges tied to the cyber incident. As reported by Journal-News, officials say outstanding balances can be spread over multiple billing cycles to soften the hit on household budgets, and they have warned that autopay will stay off until individual customers choose to turn it back on.
Earlier 25% plan and community pushback
Before settling on the grace period and phased billing approach, city leaders had floated the idea of adding a 25% usage adjustment on estimated bills to recoup missed charges from the outage period. That proposal ran into strong pushback from residents and was ultimately dropped. WLWT reported the reversal, along with the city’s public pledge to work with customers as billing systems came back online.
What residents should do now
For anyone whose latest statement does not line up with personal records, officials recommend saving all payment receipts, taking screenshots of InvoiceCloud history, and contacting the city’s utility team to formally open a dispute. Residents are being cautioned not to switch autopay back on until they are comfortable the balance is correct. As WCPO noted, customers can also pay in person, by mail, or at drop boxes while questions are worked out. Local coverage says elected officials and city staff are watching how the rest of the billing cycles play out as complaints continue to surface.
