North Star Port

IFTY YEARS AGO THIS SUMMER, as the nation marked its bicenten- nial, the City of Superior was caught in a fiscal vise. Wisconsin's state-im- posed property tax levy limits — in effect from 1975 through 1982 — capped how much the city could raise through property taxes. Inflation outran the cap, and a decade of population loss was eroding the tax base. City Hall openly weighed suspending garbage pickup, laying off municipal workers and imposing a wheelage tax on every car registered. Fortunately, relief was inbound. On June 16, 1976, the lake freighter St. Clair arrived at the $45 million Superior Midwest Energy Terminal (SMET), a new 200-acre coal transshipment complex in the Port of Duluth-Superior. Loading began the next day and continued at a good clip throughout the summer. By Sept. 9, the facility moved its one-millionth ton, a milestone in less than three months. For the season, Duluth-Superior's total coal tonnage jumped from 2.26 million short tons in 1975 to 3.16 million in 1976, a 40 percent year-over-year increase driven almost entirely by the new facility. The fiscal dividends followed close behind. After Superior voters declined to authorize taxing above the state levy limit, Wisconsin's State Department of Rev- enue confirmed that SMET added roughly $12 million to the city's tax rolls, lifting Superior's assessed valu- ation from $138 million to nearly $154 million in a single year. With the coal terminal now paying a sub- stantial share of the local tax bill, the burden on indi- vidual homeowners lightened and Superior gained a durable new pillar of revenue. A half century later, as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, SMET closed June 30, concluding a 50-year lease that delivered 571 million tons of coal. The ship that opened the terminal — and the ambi- tion behind it — is profiled by Patrick Lapinski. Coal turns the tide 1976 | By Patrick Lapinski SEASONS OF YORE 8 | NORTH STAR PORT | SUMMER 2026 F

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