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Council passes max 6.5-percent tax increase

Cloquet city councilors unanimously voted for a preliminary 2023 levy increase of 6.5 percent Tuesday, following advice of staff to build a little "wiggle room" into the budget.

Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb made the motion, stressing that the goal was to lower the levy increase to 5.95 percent by the time the city budget and levy are formally adopted in December.

City administrator Tim Peterson recommended the "wiggle room" and higher increase, noting that the council can choose to decrease the levy in December, but it can't go any higher than the preliminary levy set in September.

The increas...