BY TIMOTHY LAROCHE
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CLAREMONT — After several months of development, a proposed $17.3 million city budget was released Wednesday by City Manager Ryan McNutt.
If approved at the June 13 City Council meeting, said the proposed budget would increase the city portion of the tax rate by 81 cents to $15.65 per $1,000 of assessed value, increasing the tax bill for the average homeowner by nearly $81 to $1,756.
After the current budget saw slight reductions from previous years, McNutt’s second proposed budget since his tenure in the city began includes several increases.
In the budget proposal letter, McNutt said that his proposed budget includes more “strategic investments” aimed at improving potential tools for economic development.
“We are maintaining funding for basic services while also investing to make Claremont a city that can attract the new residents we need to live, work and play here,” McNutt said in his budget proposal. “New residents will help grow our economy, fill the openings in our local industries, and grow the city’s workforce in ways that meet the needs of major and emerging companies.”
Citing finite resources and continual losses in state aid, however, the proposed budget does not include money for replacing one of the firefighters who retired in the last year.
“The continual loss in state aid has had, and will continue to have, a detrimental effect on the revenues Claremont has relied upon to reduce reliance on local property taxes,” McNutt said. “Each subsequent reduction or elimination of a source of state aid creates a gap in the budget that can only be filled by cuts in service or increases in property tax.”
Like the current budget, 73 percent of the proposed budget allocations support public safety related areas like police, fire and public works. However, the proposal shifts a greater percentage of the budget into culture and recreation areas.
Accordingly, the recently-adopted Claremont Masterplan sets goals of expanding the city’s creative arts economy and improving historic assets.
Still, the city manager’s proposed budget represents a nearly $1.3 million decrease from the budget requests proposed by city department heads.
In major line items like the Department of Public Works’ paving fund, McNutt’s proposed budget reduces totals from the departments proposed $500,000 to $225,000. However, proposed streets and roads budgets saw a slight overall increase, with both winter and summer maintenance lines increasing.
The City Council is scheduled to begin discussions on the budget at its regular meeting on Wednesday. Department heads will meet with the council to defend their budget requests on May 12.
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