The City of Burlington is meeting in a closed-door session to discuss what action it is going to take over the US$17m owed to the city. Burlington Telecom a municipal telecommunications company providing residents of Burlington, Vermont with TV,…
The City of Burlington is meeting in a closed-door session to discuss what action it is going to take over the US$17m owed to the city. Burlington Telecom a municipal telecommunications company providing residents of Burlington, Vermont with TV, telephone and internet services on a city-wide fibre-optic network was created as a division of the city in 2007. However, in 2009 Burlington informed the Vermont Public Service Board it had used US$17m in city money to support its operations since early 2008. The failure to repay that loan was a violation of Burlington Telecom’s state license. The revelation prompted a forensic audit of Burlington Telecom and in early 2010, a criminal referral to the Vermont Attorney General. The company is now in about US$50m in debt with US$33.4m owed to CitiCapital as well as the money to the city. The meeting will be about the restructuring of the debt by getting CitiCapital to agree to a reduction in the amount of the debt or a relaxation of the terms of repayment.
