Albert Lea residents could see a decrease on their city tax bill, depending on individual home values.

The Albert Lea City Council will consider a 1.29 percent 2017 tax levy increase Monday night at the Albert Lea City Council chambers 

Taxes on a $100,000 home that has not changed in value, however, would decrease $17 because of an approximately 3 percent increase in the tax base, said City Manager Chad Adams, adding that to see a tax increase, homeowners would have to have their home values increase by more than 2 or 3 percent.

The levy will be considered at $6.23 million. The 2016 levy is $6.15 million. The proposed levy is a decrease from a 2.6 percent increase discussed in September.

No general fund levy increase is expected for the fifth year in a row, Adams said, adding that the levy increase stems from debt service mainly for 2016 road reconstruction projects and mill-and-overlay projects in the community.

“That’s something that we’ve been doing in the last few years, is increasing our debt service levy rather than our property levy,” he said.

Water rates are set to increase 7 percent, and sewer rates are set to increase 1 percent. The total increase for an average single-family home will be about $24, Adams said.

Adams said the water rate increase — expected to be similar in the next few years — is because of the amount of water infrastructure projects the city must undertake.

“These are essential water infrastructure replacement, where we have water mains that might be 80 years old,” he said. “And they are at the point where we are maintaining them too much, and are at a high risk of them breaking and failing.”

Adams said water main breaks would cause an increase in maintenance costs and negative effects on residents and businesses.

“We just don’t have enough cash to pay for all of the projects,” he said. “We would prefer not to bond for all of the projects, because that means higher costs for all of the residents through interest.”

Adams said the city has tried to keep property taxes low to compensate for needed increases in water and sewer rates.

Adams said he was pleased with the levy numbers, and he thanked the council for providing resources so administration could analyze long-term numbers and city department leaders for having efficient budgets.

He said some cities are increasing their tax levy from about 3 to 5 percent or more.

“It’s not very common where we’re able to come for five years in a row and not increase our operating levy,” he said. “So, we have been able to find creative ways to keep those tax levies down while we are starting to see some growth in the tax base, which is a good thing as well.”

The council will also consider a $15.76 million 2017 general fund budget, which is an approximately 3.97 percent increase from $15.1 million in 2016.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. A truth in taxation meeting will be before the vote.