CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Plans for a new school in Hamilton County have sparked a divide among officials due to escalating costs.
Initially estimated at $50 million, the project to build a school on the Golden Gateway property is now projected to cost $80 million.
That left county commissioners demanding answers from County Mayor Weston Wamp, who saidhe got those estimates in June.
Commission Chair Jeff Eversole announced that an audit team will conduct a “deep dive” into accusations that Mayor Wamp was not transparent about the increased costs. Eversole emphasized the need to “trust but verify.”
“Mr. Mayor, I’m asking they get full access to any documentation record to substantiate or to non-substantiate the actions,” Eversole said.
The audit follows concerns from several commissioners about when Mayor Wamp became aware of the higher costs.
Commissioner David Sharpe said at Wednesday’s weekly meeting, “This commissioner was never briefed.”
Mayor Wamp responded by saying that the School Board initially estimated the cost at $50 million in January. However, later estimates from his office indicated the cost would exceed $80 million if the project included both a technical school and the Chattanooga School for the Creative Arts.
Read more:Concerns about combining 2 high schools into 1 raised by Hamilton County’s superintendent
Commissioner Warren Mackey expressed frustration, saying
If we don’t know where the money is going, what’s been spent, we can’t do our job.
Mayor Wamp said he provided the updated estimate to commissioners at least three weeks before they voted to issue bonds for the project.
“All that we spent is about $50,000 planning for how we can best spend millions, even tens of millions, of dollars,” Wamp said, noting the expenditure was to avoid past budget overruns, such as the Tyner project.
Commissioner Lee Helton added, “We explored other options, but it doesn’t look like they’re financially viable.”
Chair Eversole assured that all findings from the audit will be reviewed and communicated with the public.
We have reached out to Hamilton County Schools to find out when they received word of the increased costs for the project. We’ll update this story if and when we hear back.
Depend on us to keep you posted.