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North Miami says cyberattack drove $15.6 million year‑end cash shortfall; utility billing still recovering
Summary
City CFO presented unaudited third- and fourth-quarter numbers showing large budget amendments and a $15.6 million cash dip tied to a cyberattack; councilors pressed staff on collections, ARPA balance and utility-billing delays.
Angela Reyes, North Miami chief financial officer, told the City Council on Jan. 14 that the city’s third- and fourth-quarter financial statements are unaudited but show significant year‑end adjustments and a material cash shortfall caused by a cyberattack.
Reyes said city staff recorded $27.7 million in budget amendments in the third quarter — much of it PO (purchase order) rollovers — and $80.5 million in the fourth quarter, citing CRA bonds and further rollovers. “These are unaudited numbers for now,” Reyes said during her presentation.
The presentation showed the general fund performance rising to about 98% by the fourth quarter, while other fund types and capital projects varied. Reyes attributed a negative $15.6 million cash balance in the fourth quarter to a cyber incident that disabled billing and payments systems for about four to six weeks: “we were down for quite a bit,” she said, and staff estimates the disruption wiped out 60–90 days of billing activity before manual processes brought the city toward recovery.
Council members asked how much revenue was lost to the attack; Reyes said staff and the city’s legal team are still quantifying losses and have not finalized a dollar figure. On utility billing she said the city had been manually reading meters and entering data after the attack erased handheld and import functionality; billing was about 90 days behind at the height of the incident and she reported it had been reduced to about 60 days with a target to be caught up within 30–60 days.
Members also asked about delinquent receivables and ARPA grant balances. Reyes said the city’s receivables fell compared with the prior year and that property‑tax collections finished over 100% in the fourth quarter because of late payments that arrived at year‑end. Regarding ARPA, Reyes confirmed the line item shown in an earlier version of the report was no longer available and said federal rules require returning unobligated funds when the allocation period ends.
Council discussion stressed the need for earlier distribution of materials so members can examine complex financial reports before meetings. Several councilors requested the finance team and manager bring back a more detailed loss estimate from the cyberattack and a plan to mitigate billing and collection losses.
Reyes closed by noting the city is preparing a final, audited presentation and that staff will return with the refined figures and follow‑up on outstanding questions.
