Residents Offer Ideas for Revenue : Budget: A utility tax is the most prominent solution proposed to help offset a projected $1.9-million shortfall.

At an old-fashioned town meeting Saturday, Claremont residents gave the City Council a list of ideas--topped by a utility tax--to plug a projected $1.9-million hole in next year’s budget.

The town meeting concluded a series of neighborhood meetings convened by the City Council to stimulate ideas on cutting city operating expenses and generating new revenue for next year and beyond.

During the town meeting, attended by about 200 residents, 10 spoke in favor of a user-based utility tax that would be levied on commercial, residential and nonprofit users. A suggestion was made to exempt only low-income residents. The audience broke into applause when the council said it would pursue such a tax.

Bob Wolfe, a 30-year Claremont resident, commended the utility tax as “one of few mechanisms that allows the Claremont Colleges to pay their share.” Several residents supported the proposed tax as a fair burden on every city resident.

Although no one spoke against the tax, the colleges oppose the proposal. On the day of the meeting, the six college presidents published a letter in the Claremont Courier, the city’s biweekly paper, disputing the validity of taxing nonprofit institutions. The president of Claremont McKenna College, Jack Stark, attended the town meeting, but did not speak.

Councilwoman Suzan Smith pointed out that USC, Caltech and Occidental College pay utility taxes in their cities.

In addition to the utility tax, residents suggested that the city split the costs of maintenance and services with the Claremont Unified School District and with adjacent cities. “We’ve been meeting with the school board all along,” City Manager Glenn D. Southard said. Child care, asset management and coordinated lobbying efforts will be discussed at a daylong joint retreat in January.

Merging the city’s police force, trash collection and human services with those of other cities also was proposed by residents. Claremont already shares some equipment with neighboring cities.

Discussion repeatedly returned to economic development, but Councilman Algird G. Leiga cautioned that “it’s not a panacea.” Claremont currently receives about $2 million a year in sales tax revenue. The city would need to double its economic base to finance the current budget shortfall. However, the council agreed that economic development is a positive long-term solution. Smith suggested reactivating the economic development committee.

Other popular suggestions included expanding volunteerism. The city annually receives 40,000 hours of volunteer help, valued at $1 million.

The $1.9-million budget shortfall is expected because of state cuts in local revenues, a recessionary economy that is keeping sales tax income flat, and general fund revenues that fail to keep up with the rate of inflation, according to a report by Southard.

Over the last several years, Claremont has met its increasing budget problems by eliminating 42 staff positions, cutting down on overtime, deferring maintenance projects, contracting out some services, converting police vehicles from gasoline to propane and increasing various fees.

Southard said the city’s next step will begin in January with the shaping of the 1993-94 budget. The staff will get formal direction at the Jan. 12 council meeting, he said.