Kincardine Council has held off on approving a new framework for how Bruce Telecom provides its payout to the municipality.
Mayor Larry Kraemer says Councillors want to be able to ask questions of company executives directly when they appear before council to give an update from the municipally-owned utility.
Kraemer — a member of the Bruce Telecom Board — says the telecommunications industry is very competitive right now, and there is pressure on the company’s budget.
And that affects the municipality’s budget because of the payout.
Kraemer says it is fair to say the upcoming payout from the utility will be lower than in the past — but he can’t say by how much.
He says they just want to be sure the suggestions of the board for the payout framework are right for the utility and the municipality.
Based on the proposed calculations, the municipality would receive 932 thousand dollars for 2009.
Councillor Ron Hewitt says there’s a lot of money at stake when a million dollars a year of shareholder money is involved.
Hewitt says council needs more information than a report presented by municipal staff and adds it should come from the board itself.
Representatives from Bruce Telecom are supposed to visit Council later this month.