BELHAVEN — The Town of Belhaven continues to correct its delinquent utility accounts, and according to Town Manager Woody Jarvis, the majority of corrections have been with active accounts.

In an interview a week and a half ago, Jarvis said the town has collected about 62.5 percent of the delinquent balances since the Office of the State Auditor released its report Feb. 4.

Jarvis said Thursday that town officials have been making great strides in correcting these problems. He said the 62.5 percent figure previously mentioned comes from active account delinquencies, as opposed to inactive account delinquencies.

He said that the town is working to fully enforce its utility service-cutoff policy, and the goal is to return to its original policy by May.

The Town of Belhaven is also working to correct its receivable account by June 30, the end of the fiscal year, according to Jarvis.

“That (62.5 percent) did not account for the money on the books that had not been written off,” he said.

The audit stated that 235 of the town’s 1,294 active utility accounts were past due but still receiving services, and 394 of the town’s 434 inactive accounts were more than 60 days past due and represented 63 percent of Belhaven’s total receivable balance.

When a municipality has an inactive account with outstanding balances, it is protocol for it to write off the balances, especially if they are not likely to be paid. Accounts can go inactive for reasons such as death or if a customer moves away and reports no forwarding address.

According to the audit, former Finance Director Steve Noble failed to write off the balances, thus leading to an inaccurate receivable balance, which affects a town’s “bottom line.”

“At some point in time, it’s time to write it off. That obviously had not been done,” Jarvis said. “Everybody’s trying to do the right thing. It is not without challenges.”

The Town of Belhaven is also awaiting an annual audit review from the Local Government Commission, which oversees the operations of municipalities. After the State Auditor’s findings were released, the LGC questioned the town’s independent, hired auditor as to why the utility balance problems were not addressed correctly. The independent auditor then agreed to revise its own annual audit, and resubmitted the revised version to the LGC for review.

“We’re trying to have all the help we can get,” Jarvis said. “Those are good things and it’s good for us to have rules, and it’s good for us to follow our rules.”