Rebecca Kocher, Central State’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement, said during a recent Central State Trustee’s meeting that based on the invoices received from the city of Xenia, Central State University believed it was current on its utility payments as of Dec. 22.
“On that date, the university paid $71,407, which was the amount reflected as due on the December invoice,” she said. “On December 23, the city informed the university that a credit had been applied to the university’s account in error, thereby creating a revised balance due.”
Kocher said the university’s records reflect a total outstanding balance of approximately $263,000 after the credit was accounted for, which a Xenia city representative said was a “fair approximation of the outstanding balances.” Xenia did not provide an exact balance due to legal reasons.
“The January invoices are currently on the University’s priority payment list for immediate review,” Kocher said. “Importantly, the University has continued to work cooperatively with the city of Xenia to resolve the account reconciliation and a longer term solution.”
Ryan Duke, finance director at the city of Xenia, said it is true that a payment was misapplied to the Central State account and resulted in confusion about the balance.
“CSU was delinquent prior to the credit being applied incorrectly and the account has since been adjusted to reflect correct balances,” Duke said. “While there is and has historically been some delinquency, we are talking about a few months of delinquency, not many months or years.”
Duke said large universities use a significant amount of water. It’s not uncommon for universities the size of Central State to have monthly water bills more than $100,000, he said.
“CSU has been making regular payments and is attempting to bring their balance current,” Duke said. “The University is a valued partner and the City is committed to working with University stakeholders to resolve outstanding balance issues.”
