Aberdeen City Council could agree to bear the cost of a new mortuary to be used by all north-east and northern isles authorities – until others chip in.
Councillors will next week be briefed on the full business case for the proposed Foresterhill facility and could sign up to underwrite the cost of building it, in principle.
The project is replacing aging pre-Second World War facilities at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and at the Queen Street police headquarters.
NHS Grampian is contributing £900,000 towards the cost and the proposed site – worth another £950,000 – while additional funds are coming from police, the Crown Office, Aberdeen University and Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland Islands councils.
If approved, the new mortuary would have to be included in the council’s capital budget, to be agreed in March.