The Christchurch City Council is distancing itself from the $600,000 salary given to the chief executive of a company in which it is a major shareholder.
City Care contracts to the council for the upkeep of parks and gardens, roads and other amenities.
Its chief executive gets a base salary of $430,000 and a performance payment of $170,000. In 2012, the company's profit dropped almost $3 million to $16.5 million.
The chair of the council's finance committee, Raf Manji, says City Care is an independent company with an independent board.
However, Mr Manji says the council plans to review the governance structures of all the companies it has a holding in.
