A new fall sport — kickball — is in the offering for area kids.

Organizers approached the Leitchfield City Council Monday, Aug. 6, about starting the program, which would run from late August through September.

Teams will play and practice at the Wilkey ballfields, with games expected to be held Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. They will likely play a 10-game schedule.

“Kids need something to do in the fall,” Jose Soto, one of the organizers, told the council. He said they decided on kickball because it’s a game almost everyone can play, not a lot of equipment is needed, and the teams can be co-ed.

Plus, “it’s something the kids play a lot at school,” he said.

Four age divisions will be offered: 4 to 6 years old, 7 to 9 years old, 10 to 12 years old, and 13 to 15. The cost will be $20 for the first child in a family, and $15 for each additional child, which will cover a team shirt, insurance and other costs.

Sign-ups for the program will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, and Saturday, Aug. 18, at the ballfields.

In other action the council:

* Approved the first reading of the 2012 property tax rate ordinance. Following the recommendations of its budget committee, the council voted to keep the real property tax rate at 11.7 cents per $100 assessed property value.

The rate is expected to generate about $283,262 for the city, an increase of about $8,355, due to increased property values. The city’s 2012 assessed value of all real properties is $242,104,261.

Under the proposal the personal property tax rate would drop from 16.1 cents to 12.7 cents per $100 assessed property value. The city will still see more money, though, due to rising assessments — an estimated $102,800, roughly $3,775 more than in 2011.

The motor vehicle tax will remain unchanged at 12 cents per $100 assessed value.

If the council had approved taking the compensating rate – one that produces roughly the same amount of revenue as in the previous year from real property – the city’s real and personal property tax rates would have fallen to 11.4 and 12.3 cents per $100 assessed value, respectively. That would have translated, though, to an overall revenue increase of about $1,700.

* Rescheduled its first meeting in September to Tuesday, Sept. 4, due to the Labor Day holiday.