A decision on whether to revamp the way libraries and museums and sports facilities are managed has been delayed.
Aberdeenshire Council met yesterday to discuss fresh proposals for culture and sport after it was forced to scrap controversial plans to create an arms-length trust.
Last month the Press and Journal revealed the authority had plunged £370,000 into the doomed organisation, which it had hoped would save cash until it emerged it would not be exempt from business rates.
Since then the council has been working on an alternative model which it is hoped would still alleviate some of the financial pressures of running these facilities.
The private sector-inspired business unit model would work in a similar way to the trust but staff would remain council employees and it would use the same ICT infrastructure.
Councillors were due to approve the plans yesterday, however, they decided to defer a decision until next month.
The proposals will also now go before the education and communities committees who will then pass their own verdicts back to full council in April.
The Barclay Review ruled that new arms-length organisations (Aleos) would no longer be exempt from paying rates.
Despite being given this warning prior to its publication, the council pressed ahead with the scheme.
However when it became apparent the trust – which was supposed to save the council £500,000 – would have ended up costing more than £600,000 in its first year, the authority decided to mothball it.