The Austin City Council preliminarily approved a 2.9 percent increase to paving assessment rates at a work session Monday.

The increase means homeowners who are assessed for street reconstruction projects will have to pay slightly more going forward. For example, 4-inch thick sidewalk will increase by $.10 to $4.10 per square feet in 2015.

Austin residents paid about 33.7 percent of adjacent street construction costs in 2014, which is slightly lower than what assessed residents paid in 2013. The city is working toward getting assessed residents to pay for 40 to 50 percent of street construction project costs.

Public Works Director Steven Lang said the city may never get up to 50 percent, but 40 percent was “a reasonable goal” as the city has had homeowners pay in the upper 30 percent toward projects in the past.