City property taxes are expected to go up next year, but not by as much as originally proposed.

The tax hike will cost the average property taxpayer less than $25 a year.

City council Tuesday night said it will vote Thursday to raise the debt service tax to 7.5 mills, up from 6.25 mills.

The city last month proposed raising that tax to 10 mills, the maximum allowed under the third class city code.

Raising the tax to 10 mills would have cost the average taxpayer about $50 per year.

“None of us at this table want to raise taxes,” said Mayor Tom Donaldson. “But the city is hurting financially.”

The city expects to get about $80,000 through the tax hike, which will go to paving streets.

“If we don’t pay, we’ll eventually get to the point where we don’t have any streets,” the mayor said.

Council originally planned to use the hike to 10 mills to help pay for the West New Castle Street bridge project and the Sullivan Run flood control projects. The city now hopes to package about $500,000 of those costs into a bond issue that will pay for a new parking garage.