Levy status across the county

It’s the time of year when local governments are approving budgets for the coming year, and tax levies to go with them. Here’s a roundup of levies passed in the past week:

Cloquet School District

The Cloquet School Board members approved a 2.15-percent levy increase for taxes paid in 2021 following the truth-in-taxation hearing held Monday, Dec. 14.

The increase brings the total local tax levy to $7,136,281, an increase of $149,993 over last year. That’s a smaller increase than most recent years, said district finance director Candace Nelis, although last year’s levy increased by less than half a percent.

The levy funds approximately 16 percent of the school district’s total budget of $43,777,696. State revenue sources pay just under $30.6 million of the budget, while federal sources pay $2.08 million and other local sources cover just over $4 million of the annual budget. Salaries, wages and benefits make up 66 percent of the district budget, with purchased services at 14 percent and debt service at 12 percent.

Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary stressed that — unlike the county and city governments — the school district does not determine its own tax levy; that’s done by the state.

“[School districts] are the one branch of local government that doesn’t have the authority to establish their own increases,” he said. “Our levy increases are 100-percent driven by the state and we are told, ‘this is the maximum amount you can request from your public.’ And then our aid increases are again, set by the legislature, so school districts … really have no control over our revenue pages.”

No one from the public attended the meeting in person or asked questions during the combined virtual and in-person meeting.

Cloquet Area Fire District

The Cloquet Area Fire District held its truth-in-taxation hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10 at the Scanlon Community Center. Only the Pine Knot News attended from the public, and board members attended virtually, with Marshall Johnson the only board member attending in person, along with office administrator Molly Cooper. The meeting lasted just over five minutes. The CAFD budget for 2021 is proposed at $5,176,850, an increase of $273,450 over the 2020 budget. The remaining budget is funded through user fees and other intergovernmental revenues. A total of 55 percent of the budget is funded by local taxpayers in 2021, with the levy set at $3,148,425. Of that levy, $2,683,055 is fire levy, and the ambulance levy is split, with areas that receive ambulance service only (Arrowhead, Culver, Industrial, Stoney Brook and Thomson townships) paying a total of $143,229 in ambulance levy, while Cloquet, Scanlon and both Perch Lake and Brevator townships pay $332,141 of the ambulance levy between them.

The CAFD board was scheduled to adopt the budget and tax levy at its regular meeting Wednesday, Dec. 16, after the Pine Knot News went to press; they were expected to pass both as proposed during Thursday’s hearing.

Wrenshall School District

Because of some drawdown in debt service, Wrenshall taxpayers will pay 16.44 percent less in school taxes in 2021 than the past year. The district saw its debt service costs reduced by 24 percent as it finishes work on air quality repairs at the school. About half of the school tax paid in Wrenshall goes toward debt service.