County Commissioners Joe Graham and Tim Boyd said Wednesday that the city should stop charging the county schools "half a million dollars a year" in stormwater fees.
Commissioner Graham said that charge "should be negotiated out" in connection with the county agreeing not to charge the city of Chattanooga and other municipalities for property reappraisals.
The commission acted Wednesday to waive the shared cost for the 2017 real property reappraisals.
Municipal officials had gotten up in arms about the surprise charge with some saying they would have to raise taxes to cover it.
The city of Chattanooga started charging the schools a stormwater fee at the time the city began repaying a large amount of liquor tax it was found had not been remitted to the schools.
Commissioner Graham said of Mayor Andy Berke that "he is the only mayor in history to charge our schools the fee."
Commissioner Boyd called the fee "totally out of line."
He said the money should be used instead "for teacher salaries or supplies."
Also, he said it could help eliminate fees charged to parents by the schools.