The Hamilton County Commission is calling off a planned March 15 meeting with county school board members because they have little to discuss, the commission chairman says.
On Monday, Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper sided with the County Commission and its plan to withhold millions generated by payment-in-lieu of-taxes agreements, tax breaks the county uses to lure businesses such as Volkswagen.
County officials want to earmark that money for school construction; school officials want it put into the system’s budget.
“I think in light of what’s transpired, we’d be better off meeting with individual school board members” on how to use the money, Chairman Larry Henry said Wednesday at the commission’s regular meeting.
Under PILOTS, companies are cut multiyear breaks on property taxes, although they still must pay the share of taxes slated for schools. In the current budget, PILOT money amounts to about $6 million for the school system.