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Central govt, PSS, CHC now owe CUC $9.2M
Arrears owed by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s three biggest customers-the central government, the Public School System, and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.-have jumped to over $9 million, according to CUC chief financial officer Charles Warren.
Based on its latest records, Warren said that CUC’s receivables from these three entities total $9.2 million.
PSS owes the largest slice of the pie, amounting to $3.8 million as of May 31, 2012.
CHC’s outstanding obligation totals $3 million.
The central government, which includes its instrumentalities, owes CUC $2.5 million, while other autonomous departments owe $900,000.
The Northern Marianas College is also $70,000 in debt to CUC as of May 31.
According to Warren, CUC did receive three payments that were not factored yet in the May 31 records. He said the central government made payments since then of $728,000, while NMC paid its full arrears of $70,000. CHC, for its part, partially paid $216,000.
According to Warren, CUC received its last payments from the central government on June 20, while the public hospital made a partial payment on June 8. Public schools, meantime, made its last utility payment on May 17.
Adding these unpaid obligations to other receivables from the agency’s residential and commercial customers boosts CUC’s total receivables to $18.2 million as of end last month.
Records show that residential customers owe the utilities firm $6.5 million while commercial patrons owe $2.5 million as of May 31.
CUC is a nonprofit organization and its operation relies heavily on payments of power, water, and wastewater customers.
Despite these unpaid monies, CUC describes its current cash flow as positive compared to the same period last fiscal year.
Warren disclosed that for eight months ending May 31, the utilities firm had a positive cash flow of about $929,000, compared to the negative cash flow last fiscal year of $691,000. Fiscal year 2012 covers the period from Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012.
Warren said that CUC’s collection from October 2011 through May 31 totaled $60.7 million, and expects to collect about $91 million until end of the current fiscal year.
Warren attributed the current positive cash flow to “expense control and improved collection.”
CUC is still under a state of emergency.
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
