DeKalb wants its citizens to help with a spending plan for the next five years.

DeKalb city council members met Monday to get a financial plan into gear for the next five years.

The council is asking for citizen input through a mailback survey for the formation of the plan, DeKalb City Manager Mark Stevens said.

Stevens said the council will use “mechanisms for additional citizen input in this process and of course we’ll utilize the input we’ve already received.”

The survey will choose residents randomly out of the DeKalb phone book and also from the NIU directory, Stevens said.

“A forecasted plan takes what exists and what we know and projects it out to the future,” Stevens said. “The actual plan establishes the framework in policies for decision making.”

The forecast will deal with operating costs, which includes personnel costs, and whether the city needs to provide for rising costs for existing personnel, he said.

The general tax fund is the major source of capital dollars, Stevens said. The fund may vary greatly depending on the fate of the income tax surcharge, he said.

Three major projects will take up most of DeKalb’s capital costs: the improvement to Lucinda Avenue, airport commitments and the 1989 bond issue.

Stevens said he wants to make sure the city invests money in the capital fund because “there’s a limit to those dollars we have.”

“To prepare the budget, there’s a necessity for city planning,” Stevens said.

“The real work begins with the citizen input process,” Stevens said.