Hamilton County School Superintendent Rick Smith's request for $34 million budget increase looks dead on arrival

School Superintendent Rick Smith's request for a $34 million annual increase to the public school system's budget appears to be dead on arrival.

Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger sent Smith a letter this morning asking for a school budget with no increased revenue.

"We're not going to raise property taxes," Coppinger told the Times Free Press. "I've always said time and time again, it would only be ... a last resort to raise property taxes."

Coppinger's office sets the budget for the Hamilton County Department of Education, and the county commission votes it up or down.

Rick Smith

Smith couldn't be reached for comment. The superintendent toured the county at 11 public meetings, touting the budget increase to make Chattanooga "the smartest city in the South" through such changes as adding art and foreign language instruction in elementary grades and giving a 5 percent increase in school employees' pay and benefits.

"We got [Coppinger's] letter today," Signal Mountain school board member Jonathan Welch said. "We always knew it was a possibility."

Welch expected school board members to discuss the issue at a special school board work session to be held at 5 p.m. The work session was scheduled Friday to discuss school fees, purchase of math textbooks and inclement weather pay.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.