It has been recommended that DeKalb should keep the same tax rate as last year. If the city keeps the rate, property owners will not encounter higher taxes.

This issue was discussed Monday at a City Council Workshop meeting.

Consideration of the 2004 city property tax levy was brought up during the discussion by Administrative Service Director Linda Wiggins.

Wiggins recommended keeping the same tax rate, being 60 cents per $100 of Equalized Assessed Valuation. By doing this, unless properties have been reassessed, property owners will not see a tax increase.

This year, the city will see a surplus because of the remaining tax rate.

“This has been a good year in construction,” Wiggins said. “By keeping the same tax rate, the city will be able to capture the value of all new construction that has occurred within DeKalb during the past year, allowing city services to expand as the community has expanded.”

Wiggins recommended using the surplus for capital projects, such as new street lights.

Another issue discussed was enhancing property maintenance inspections. The issue was presented by City Development Director Paul Rasmussen.

In his presentation, Rasmussen presented the weaknesses in the city’s current property maintenance program, which focuses more on residential properties rather than industrial.

The current program depends on specific complaints made by members of the community, Rasmussen said. These complaints are handled by having an inspector bring a violation to a property owner’s attention without issuing a warning ticket.

There are a few weaknesses with this program. Limits on funding for the program have caused problems with decreased staffing.

Rasmussen suggested modifications that are divided into three phases.

The first phase consists of actions that can be accomplished rather quickly, such as making greater use of warning tickets.

The last two phases concern a targeted property maintenance inspection program, which will take longer to accomplish.

These two subjects will be discussed 7 p.m. Monday at the city council meeting in the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St.