We value our fire protection in Carlton County, and we particularly like the lower home insurance premiums we enjoy thanks to having a fully staffed, 24/7 fire department with an excellent response time here in Cloquet.

But another public building built on public tax dollars may tax our community too much at a time when we’re just not sure what other public buildings may be coming.

In the past few years, Carlton County has built a new public works garage in Barnum and a Human Services building in Cloquet. Cloquet schools built a beautiful new middle school. Other county school districts...