County Commissioner Warren Mackey on Wednesday pulled a controversial resolution that would give each commissioner $100,000 per year for doling out to non-profit community groups.
Commissioner Mackey said he believed that he had the necessary votes to pass it.
However, he said "race has been injected in the issue."
He said he was referring to a column in the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he said stated that those who voted against it would be labeled as racists.
Commissioner Mackey said, "I don't know where they got there, but I don't do race."
He said there "is so much tension and decisiveness now. I can and will bring it up later when some of these tensions have died down and we're in more of a normal state."
County Commissioners for a number of years had $100,000 each for discretionary spending. County Mayor Jim Coppinger led in an effort to halt the practice several years ago.
He said he is opposed to the commissioners going back to taking $900,000 from the general fund for discretionary spending.