Hamilton County Mayor Jim CoppingerHamilton County commissioners and schools officials often get together before budget season and hash out priorities for the next year.
Not this season.
Though County Commission Education Committee Chairman Warren Mackey originally scheduled a meeting for early March, the sides canceled it.
"We're not going forward with them prior to budget hearings," Mackey said Thursday. "I'm not happy with the people from the school board."
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger is preparing the county's budget for the fiscal 2013 year, which begins July 1. Budget hearings will begin the week of May 7.
Officials from county departments and constitutional offices such as trustee or property assessor will come before commissioners and explain their budget requests for next year. Commissioners then decide how much to appropriate and, when necessary, whether to raise more money through taxes or issuing bonds.
Coppinger has said he will not ask for a tax increase, and in January sent a letter to department heads and constitutional offices urging them not to ask for more than they received this fiscal year. Last year, the county's budget totaled about $625.8 million.
Coppinger said he regularly communicates with schools Superintendent Rick Smith about what the system needs.
"At this point there's no need for the county mayor to call a meeting," Coppinger said. "I meet on a regular basis with Rick Smith."
When Smith appeared before commissioners this week to ask them about hiring an architect to design a new elementary school, Commissioner Greg Beck said he's tired of the lack of communication between the schools and commissioners.
"I'm baffled by how we spend so much of the taxpayers' money and we can't get our ducks in a row," Beck said. "I want the school system to inform me about what's going on."
Several months ago, Beck called for officials from the commission and school board to sit down in the same room, though no meeting was held.
Commissioners aren't the only ones who want better communication between the bodies. School board member Linda Mosley said earlier this week she is confused about the state of affairs with the commission.
"It would be nice to hear from them. It would be nice to talk about these things," Mosley said. "But we haven't had that opportunity."
School board Chairman Mike Evatt said he has no plans to call a meeting.
Staff writer Kevin Hardy contributed to this report.