WLSSD approves budget

The Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) Board of Directors approved its 2022 operating and capital budgets at its regular board meeting this week. The Sanitary Board approved a 4.11-percent increase in wastewater charges as WLSSD restores operating and capital budgets back to levels similar to 2020.

“We have all been significantly affected by Covid-19,” said WLSSD executive director Marianne Bohren. “Our 2022 budget reflects resuming the infrastructure reliability projects we put on hold for 2021 with so much economic uncertainty. The budget also anticipates the future startup of the Duluth tissue mill by ST Paper, LLC. Rapidly increasing electricity costs emphasize the importance of our continued focus on energy efficiency and resource recovery as long-term strategies to keep wastewater rates affordable for the people and employers in the region.”

Governed by a nine-member citizen board, WLSSD is a special-purpose subdivision of the State of Minnesota. Its legislative service area includes the cities of Duluth, Cloquet, Carlton, Scanlon, Wrenshall, Hermantown, Proctor and Rice Lake; and the rural townships of Silver Brook, Thomson, Twin Lakes, Canosia, Duluth, Grand Lake, Lakewood, Midway and Solway.