County Commission David Sharpe said Wednesday the Hamilton County Schools should have asked for more money - above the $34 million extra request that would require a 34-cent property tax increase.
He said a national "benchmark" shows a school system the size of Hamilton County should be operating with $93 million more, not $34 million.
Commissioner Sharpe said he believed the requested amount was "because of politics."
Tim Boyd, another commissioner, said the schools had doubled the public relations budget and were using it "to put out misinformation and misleading information."
He said the department now has five personnel and the budget is double what was spent previously.
Commissioner Boyd said he asked School Board Chairman Joe Wingate the purpose of the enlarged PR program and was told it was "to control the message."
He also said he found "no correlation" between academic success and the number of counselors in a school system.
Commissioner Katherlyn Geter said she likes the budget from Supt. Bryan Johnson for improvements in such areas as special education. She said her own intellectually disabled son, who is now 26, could have benefited from such additional help.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger said this is "the second hardest budget we have faced."
He said, "We cut out $13 million in one day. It's really, really hard."
The county mayor added, "I have never seen a time" when two sides of an issue "were more divided." He said, "And it's very even."
County Mayor Coppinger said he will present his budget recommendation next Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the McDaniel Building.