YOUNGSTOWN — SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC’s former receiver and ex-legal counsel were supposed to be paid $55,570 by May 9, but it keeps getting delayed because the current receiver says the troubled downtown utility company doesn’t have the money.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted June 24 to increase the monthly rate for most SOBE customers by 93% now with an additional 162% increase for most from November to April, when steam heat is primarily used.

Included in the rate hike is money owed to Reg Martin, the former receiver, and Kenneth R. Goldberg, the utility’s former legal counsel, to be paid in six monthly installments of $9,261 starting this month.

In a Monday filing with Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Goldberg asked Judge Anthony Donofrio to shorten the time frame to four monthly payments of $13,892, starting this month. Goldberg explained there is concern that SOBE won’t have the money to pay in the colder months.

John C. Collins, the current receiver, admits SOBE doesn’t have the money to pay Martin and Goldberg in a lump sum.

Goldberg wrote in his court filing that Martin “does not wish to be unreasonable and is willing to agree to installment payments; however, due to the operational costs SOBE is known to incur during the winter months, the six-month payout proposal is too long. Based on the receiver’s detailed knowledge of the SOBE finances, including its monthly income and expenses during the warmer months and colder months of the year, a four-month installment plan from July to October is reasonable and the outgoing receiver is agreeable to such a settlement.”

When Martin and Goldberg were removed Feb. 17 from SOBE management by Donofrio, at the request of the PUCO, the judge asked that a motion for their final payments be submitted. Goldberg submitted it March 4 with Donofrio directing Collins on March 23 to pay the two by May 9, 45 days from the entry.

But in an April 2 motion to modify the order, Michael J. Moran, SOBE’s current legal counsel, asked that instead of 45 days, SOBE be given time to pay the two when the funds become “available and can be paid from funds not reasonably necessary for the ongoing business operations.”

In that request, Moran said just the bill to Enbridge Gas Ohio for December, January and February exceeded the amount of money SOBE currently had or “reasonably likely to be obtained within a 60-day period.”

Donofrio on April 30 gave SOBE until June 30 to pay Martin and Goldberg.

Included in the PUCO-approved rate increases were six monthly payments to Martin and Goldberg.

Moran filed a motion to modify the payment order with Donofrio on June 29 for the six monthly installments, writing SOBE “has only about $45,000 in its bank account, and further payments are not expected until the first or second week of July.”

In Goldberg’s response, he wrote Collins “provides no documentation, affidavit or other credible evidence to demonstrate the present financial circumstances of SOBE or his inability to pay the outgoing receiver fees and costs as ordered by the court.”

Goldberg wrote that SOBE’s expenses during the colder months greatly increase, and it “routinely experiences significant deficits in the winter months, which it makes up for during the warmer months.”

Goldberg wrote that Martin proposed April 15 that he would accept six monthly installment payments, starting that month, but Collins didn’t respond.

SOBE, which provides steam heat and hot water to 23 downtown buildings, is in financial peril.

Before the PUCO approved the huge rate increases, Collins said SOBE’s monthly income was about $130,000 while its monthly expenses were about $220,000. Collins said SOBE would no longer be able to pay for three rented boilers it uses for steam heat by September or October without financial assistance.

While Collins said he was hoping for state assistance and Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell said he tried to receive funding, money for SOBE wasn’t in the state’s capital budget. Also, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office told The Vindicator that funding for SOBE would not come from the state’s rainy day fund.

Because of the large rate increases, some of SOBE’s customers are looking to get off the system.

For 13 of the 23 customers, the immediate increase is 93%, with two at 92%, one at 91% and two at 36%. The five other customers will pay between 64% and 80% more.

That is for the nonheating season between May and October.

Between November and April, the rate will increase by 162% for 14 of SOBE’s 23 customers. One will pay 163% more during those six months, with two paying 85% more. The six others will pay increases between 123% and 159%.

SOBE was put into court-ordered receivership Sept. 26 after the PUCO determined the utility company could no longer provide services to its customers.

A rented 800-horsepower boiler was repossessed Sept. 30 from SOBE because the company defaulted on paying for the equipment that provided heat and hot water to its 23 downtown Youngstown customers. That resulted in SOBE abandoning the city.

SOBE owed $383,214 in back payments to the steam plant’s owner, Wabash Power Equipment Co. of Wheeling, Illinois. The repossession would have made the company unable to provide utilities to its customers.

The equipment rented by Martin, which is still being used, proved to be unreliable during the winter. SOBE’s boilers failed to provide proper heat and hot water for its customers a number of times, including days when the temperature was below zero.