Council officials have suggested that a new tax could be introduced to help pay for the £400million Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR).
Officers at Aberdeenshire Council say a new levy on householders in addition to council tax would help the authority to cover its 9.5% share of the cost.
The proposal put to the AWPR steering group was that the government should authorise an exemption from the council tax freeze because the 28-mile ring road was of an “exceptional nature”.
North-east Labour MSP Richard Baker said it was “concerning and extraordinary” that Aberdeenshire Council officials had suggested introducing a new tax to pay for the AWPR.
A spokesman for the authority said, however, that no decisions had been taken on how to fund the project.
“We are still in discussions with the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland and await details on when the project will begin and how it will be funded,” he said. “We are willing to look at a range of funding options.”
The report was discussed in January by members of the steering group, made up of representatives from Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils and Transport Scotland.
It stated that Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils might have to dip into revenue budgets instead of capital budgets to pay their share because of the terms of the non-profit-distributing (NPD) funding model that the Scottish Government wants to use to fund it.
Report authors Derek Yule, Aberdeenshire Council’s head of finance, and Susan Cooper, Aberdeen City Council’s former chief accountant, say the NPD funding model “may not necessarily be the best for both councils”.
They added that not knowing what the overall costs of the AWPR are “creates further uncertainty at the present time and there are clearly financial risks associated with a project of this scale”.
“Council budgets are under significant financial pressure over the next few years, and it is anticipated that the cost of the AWPR will add to this,” they said.
The report said the city council, which will also pay 9.5% of the cost and take over responsibility for the A90 and A96 trunk roads once the AWPR is opened, could have “financing issues” over making improvements to the Haudagain roundabout.
The Milltimber Brae route leaves the Stonehaven-Aberdeen stretch of the A90 at Charleston, crosses the River Dee at Milltimber, loops west of Kingswells and rejoins the Aberdeen-Peterhead leg of the A90 at Blackdog.
A spokesman for Transport Scotland said the AWPR would be considered for procurement through the NPD model.
“The Scottish Government is meeting the largest share of the costs, contributing 81% of the total cost of the project,” he said.
Work to build the bypass is likely to be delayed because three legal challenges have been lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.