BELHAVEN — The Town of Belhaven passed its 2017-18 budget at Monday night’s meeting, but it wasn’t without plenty of disagreement.

One point of contention was the proposed 3-percent pay raise for all town employees, which the Board of Aldermen discussed in an earlier meeting. Most of the aldermen agreed the raise is meant to account for inflation and rising costs of living.

Mayor Adam O’Neal, however, disagreed with the across-the-board raise, saying pay raises should be based on merit. He specifically named Belhaven Manager Woody Jarvis as someone who shouldn’t receive a raise, stating he feels as though Jarvis has done a sub-par job.

“You give people a raise if they’re doing a good job,” O’Neal argued.

Monday night, O’Neal referred mostly to a months-long battle over trash service at Arthur’s Community Mart. Owner Arthur Bonner approached the town about overcharging in November 2016, stating he was charged for three trashcans while only having one.

Jarvis told the Board of Aldermen he corrected the problem as soon as it was brought to his attention in November, but Bonner then approached O’Neal about the unresolved issue in January, saying Jarvis was reluctant to help because of other past due balances.

The amount of overcharge came to $260, but because Bonner did not approach the town for 10 months after the supposed overcharging began, the board voted 3-2 not to reimburse Bonner at the March 13 board meeting. Alderman Greg Satterthwaite also stated that Bonner was using three trashcans until recently.

Financial records obtained by the Daily News show that Bonner’s home and store utility accounts are both delinquent, one of which had more than $2,600 unpaid as of March 7.

Since the incident, O’Neal has accused Jarvis multiple times of treating Bonner unfairly. Jarvis has been reluctant to fire back in town meetings, but he previously refuted the accusations against him and maintains that position. Jarvis and most of the board members continue to stand by his work as manager.

Many residents have also praised Jarvis for working with fellow employees to significantly correct the Town’s messy finances, including hundreds of delinquent utility bills uncovered by the Office of the State Auditor in 2016.

“(Jarvis has) got the council in his pocket. He’s going to do what he wants to do,” O’Neal said. “They’re too weak, and I say that emphatically.”

O’Neal also discussed a recent altercation between Bonner and another man at the Community Mart. He said the police failed to take any action on the matter, which he hinted could be related to the Town’s alleged disdain for Bonner.

Belhaven Police Chief F.P. Clingenpeel, however, said the two men involved and one witness all gave different stories, which stalled progress on the investigation.

“My understanding is that they attacked each other,” Alderman Ricky Credle said. “I just see a division, and it’s time for it to stop.”

Yet another point of contention involved an increased appropriation for the Wilkinson Fitness Center — a change that was not fully discussed with O’Neal before Monday night.

Jarvis said he spoke with a few of the aldermen before making the change, and they agreed the Wilkinson Center deserved more financial support.

“They don’t give anything to the town,” O’Neal argued.

Alderman Steve Carawan also requested that the increased funding for the Wilkinson Center be removed — a change the board eventually agreed to.

The board did allot more funding for the Belhaven Senior Center, as well as $1,000 for the Belhaven Arts Council.

“We’re trying to move forward. We’ve got to start working together,” Satterthwaite said. “Weak, I guess, is when we agreed with everything that the mayor wanted to do. … So to call this council weak I think is backwards.”