The City of Toronto says York University owes it a significant amount of money due to unpaid water bills, a claim the university disputes and blames on faulty water meters that are providing incorrect readings.

“There are significant arrears for water charges that have been billed to York University,” city staff wrote in a report to councillors earlier this month.

The report says city lawyers have approached representatives of the school several times to work out a solution about the water bills, which relate to the school’s main campus at 4700 Keele Street.

The city’s options going forward include transferring the unpaid bill to the school’s property tax bill, but Ontario universities are generally exempt from paying property taxes.

The city can also sue the university, or simply shut off water to the campus.

“The City acknowledges that turning off water supply to a public institution could result in serious implications for university faculty, staff, students, residents and members of the public,” city spokesperson Beth Waldman told CP24.

York University spokesperson Janice Walls says the school started seeing a “significant and unexplained increase in its water bills” several years ago.

“While the amount was reduced in discussions with the city, there continues to be outstanding issues related to the calculation of amounts of water used during a 22-month period,” Walls wrote in an email to CP24 on Friday.

The city has told York University that the water consumption at its Keele campus has increased by 230 per cent, something school officials do not accept.

Walls said the school brought in an outside investigator who found the water flow in one building was actually half of what the City of Toronto’s bill indicated.

The school says it has also found at least three water meters were installed improperly, leading to faulty readings.

“York remains committed to working cooperatively with the city to resolve the inaccurate billings,” Walls said.

The city acknowledged the university’s claim and said their lawyers are dealing with the issue.

“(York University) believe(s) the amount in arrears is a result of errors in the recorded consumption or billings indicating the water that they consumed,” the report says.