The DeKalb City Council on Monday increased the tax city residents will pay for telephone service.

The tax increase, which takes effect next year, was included as part of a larger ordinance that changes the way DeKalb will collect its municipal tax on telephone service.

The ordinance brings DeKalb into compliance with a new state law, the Simplified Municipal Telecommunications Tax Act, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2003.

Currently, the city collects taxes directly from each of the 92 different telecommunications providers. Under the SMT Tax Act, the state will collect these taxes and issue the city a single monthly check. It is thought that this should have the effect of streamlining the system to the benefit of the state, municipalities and the telecommunications providers themselves.

The new tax affects NIU as one of the community’s largest telecommunications users, said Doug Haywood, DeKalb’s accounting services manager, during a press conference last week.

Haywood added that cities across the state have adopted similar taxes.

“It appears that this would reduce administrative costs to the city,” 3rd Ward Alderman Steve Kapitan said.

Presently, the city tax rate DeKalb residents pay for telecommunication charges is 5 percent and applies only to intrastate calls. The new ordinance raises the tax to 6 percent and extends it to interstate and intrastate calls.

According to the council, a household with a phone bill of $100 before taxes will pay an additional $1 under the new structure. As a result of the new ordinance, general fund revenues from telecommunications taxes should increase from about $800,000 to about $1,000,000 annually.

The council passed the ordinance with a unanimous vote.

The council also approved by a unanimous vote final plans and plats for two residential subdivisions. One of the subdivisions approved was unit one of the Wineberry subdivision. This unit will consist of 180 single-family townhomes in three-, four- and five-unit buildings. It will be located between Rich and Bethany roads near Gwendolyn Brooks School.

Also approved was unit one, also known as Wright Farm, of the Devonaire Farms subdivision. This will include 181 single-family detached lots, comprising the east half of the project. It will be located west of The Knolls at Prairie Creek.

The council also approved certain state traffic violations to be charged as city violations. These violations include abandonment of vehicles and violations resulting in death, injury or vehicular damage. Kapitan questioned if this would tax the city resources too much.

However, City Attorney Margo Ely and Assistant City Attorney Dawn Didier assured him that it would only add a couple cases to their workload.