Claremont : Property Assessment Study

The City Council has instructed an engineering firm to begin gathering information that will be needed if the council decides to levy a controversial property assessment.

The assessment is estimated at $90 per household, but could be lowered if the council cuts services instead of trying to raise enough revenue to overcome a $1.2-million deficit in the city budget.

The council hired GFB-Friedrich & Associates of Riverside to prepare a report on the fees that would apply to each parcel of land if a benefit assessment district is formed. The council will meet Jan. 3 to discuss service reductions, the formula for levying assessments and steps to be taken to inform the public. The council decided last week to make a decision on the benefit district without submitting the issue to voters.