The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.\u2019s receivables remain above $33 million, despite management reports that it has reached settlement agreements with several delinquent customers.<\/p>\n
CUC comptroller Sohale Samari said utility receivables total over $33.7 million as of the end of November 2004.<\/p>\n
Of this amount, about $19.6 million, or 58 percent, is due from CNMI government agencies. The government\u2019s alleged debt went up by 9.5 percent, as compared with the $17.9 million it reportedly owed CUC in July 2004.<\/p>\n
The remaining $14.1 million, or 42 percent, is due from residential and commercial customers. CUC estimates that about $8.7 million of this amount is uncollectible, Samari said.<\/p>\n
He said the allowance for doubtful accounts includes over $914,000 that is due from 21 customers who have easement claims against CUC. These customers, he explained, are seeking compensation for utility service lines that cross their properties.<\/p>\n
These costumers, Samari said, have stopped paying a part of their utility bills, and will continue to do so until the amount of compensation is agreed upon. \u201cAdministrative hearings have been held for a number of claims and CUC is awaiting the outcome to pursue collection, should it be in favor of CUC,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Thus, CUC has net receivables totaling over $25 million.<\/p>\n
Samari reported, however, that CUC has managed to convert $870,000 in account receivables into notes receivables.<\/p>\n
A delinquent customer has also issued a $500,000 promissory note for unpaid bills. The amount will be paid in 10 installments of $50,000 each, Samari said.<\/p>\n
About $5.4 million, or 16 percent, of utility receivables are outstanding 1 to 15 days. Those past due, or outstanding 16 to 45 days, total $1.8 million. Receivables that are in default, or outstanding more than 45 days amount $26.5 million.<\/p>\n
Of the $26.5 million of utility receivables in default, over $16.3 million is due from CNMI government agencies, CUC said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is CUC policy that utility receivables are due and payable within 15 days of billing. If a receivable is not paid by the 15th day, a delinquency notice is sent the following day. The customer then has 14 days in which to pay. If the receivable is not paid, service is scheduled for disconnection,\u201d Samari said.<\/p>\n
CUC, however, cannot disconnect the government despite its alleged $19.6-million debt because of a temporary restraining order issued by the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.\u2019s receivables remain above $33 million, despite management reports that it has reached settlement agreements with several delinquent customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}