Claremont Manager Ramos to Present "Balanced" Budget Tonight at Council Meeting

In spite of the economic recession and a host of problems plaguing other cash strapped cities in California, Claremont is headed toward at least two years of fiscal stability, according to City Manager Tony Ramos in a budget report.

"The City of Claremont has undergone a tremendous amount of organizational change. We are now a leaner and more efficient organization," Ramos said in the budget document that lays out revenue and expenditure projections for the city through 2014.

Part of that change has been in the way city employees contribute to their retirement plans.

The city's Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) will be modified in the next two years to make city employees contribute a greater percentage of their earnings to their retirement.

Most city employees will start paying 3 percent of their earnings in the coming fiscal year, 6 percent in 2012-13 and 8 percent in 2013-2014.

Claremont Police Department employees will pay 6 percent for the coming year and 8 or 9 percent in 2012-13.

Another big change was the controversial steps the California state government took to eliminate redevelopment agencies in hundreds of cities. Claremont was one of them.

The city will recieve about $360,000 in property taxes that were originally slated for the Claremont Redevelopment Agency. 

The city ran a budget surplus of more than $5.5 million in 2010-11, and will run a budget deficit of $1.3 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Projections but the city at running another deficit of $1.2 million for 2012-13, and a small budget surplus of $463,000 in 2013-14.

The city council will present its budget in a workshop tonight at 5 p.m. at City Hall. The council is encouraging the public to come with questions and comments.