Curtis Adams abruptly resigned as East Ridge city manager on Saturday morning, saying he had become "a lightning rod."

Mr. Adams, who had proposed a controversial 47-cent property tax increase, made a brief statement at the start of a special called budget work session and then left the meeting.

He said, "I do not want to be a hindrance to this city."

Mr. Adams, who is also a longtime member of the County Commission, said the budget situation is now in the hands of Mayor Mike Steele. He said the mayor "is on the right track. He has great vision. He wants to do great things for East Ridge."

Mr. Adams, who recently turned 75 and has suffered some heart problems, said he considers Mayor Steele like a son and wants him to preach his funeral.

He said East Ridge has "some of the finest employees in the state" along with a good police force. He said the proposed budget would raise the basic police pay to $32,000.

Mr. Adams said he was "not mad at anybody," including Vice Mayor Jerry Petty and Councilman Denny Manning, who often voted against him and had sought his departure.

He said, "You didn't vote with me, but that's politics."

Vice Mayor Petty and Councilman Manning said they also had no hard feelings.

Before leaving the room, Mr. Adams said, "Everybody in East Ridge has been great to me. I love all of you."

Apparently, the announcement took the whole council by surprise. Mayor Steele said, "There was nothing to prepare me for this. I hope to have time to talk to you."

Councilman Larry Sewell said, "It's a sad day for East Ridge that you are leaving. I wish I had known earlier and could have talked you out of it."

Eddie Phillips, the city's safety commissioner who had been serving as interim city manager since longtime city manager David Mays retired due to health reasons, resumed the city manager duties.

Mr. Adams served in the post for five months.

He was paid at a salary of $60,000 per year and had a car furnished. With the projected four percent employee pay increase, his pay would have gone to $62,400. He did not receive insurance or pension payments.

Mayor Steele said former City Manager David Mays was making $94,000.

He said the city manager of a smaller Tennessee city is being paid $82,000.

One of the names mentioned as the new city manager is former East Ridge council member and mayor Vince Dean, who is in the state Legislature.

After a recess, Mr. Phillips took the city manager's seat and budget books were handed out to the council members.

Mayor Steele said the 47-cent tax increase would mean that the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $9 per month.

The tax rate now stands at $1.54 per $100 of assessed valuation.

The mayor said the $11.5 million budget includes some new positions as well a bond increase.

He said planned improvements include upgrades at Camp Jordan Park, but he said that would come from funds from the hotel-motel tax.

Mayor Steele said the East Ridge sales tax collection has only gone up 6.2 percent in 10 years. He said the property owners could not carry the bulk of the burden, but steps needed to be taken to encourage shopping in East Ridge.

He said one plan is to make Ringgold Road a tree-lined boulevard with bicycle lanes. "We should be a green, welcoming community," he said.

The budget includes money to provide police officers with a lump sum of $2,500 in addition to the projected four percent pay increase for employees. Officials said that would raise the starting pay from $29,657 to $32,157, and would raise the police pay to the second (or third) highest in the county (behind the city of Chattanooga and perhaps the sheriff's office).

Mr. Phillips said he and his assistant chief would not be receiving the $2,500.

There was a discussion about raising the fee charged for providing police and fire services to the small town of Ridgeside.

Mr. Phillips said the original rate was $25,000 per rate, but East Ridge had upped that to $30,000. However, he said Ridgeside has continued to submit the $25,000.

There is to be a later session for public input, officials said.

The budget is scheduled to be enacted on July 24 at 6:30 p.m.