Commissioners take up tax break again

The Daily Inter Lake

A proposed tax break for Plum Creek Timber Co. comes before the Flathead County commissioners for a second time this morning.

The commissioners took no action on the proposal last week, saying they wanted more information about how it compared with the county's new and expanding business program criteria.

The program is intended to encourage economic development by reducing the amount of taxes that manufacturing firms pay on new investments.

It reduces the taxable value of the investments by half for five years; the value then gradually increases until the full taxable value is reached in the 10th year.

Several tax breaks, both for Plum Creek and for other firms, have been approved under the program over the last several years.

Typically, very few people show up for the public hearings on these proposals, and the commissioners approve the requests without addressing how much tax revenue is involved.

The tax break under consideration today deals with two recent investments at Plum Creek's medium-density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls.

One project involved the construction of a 600,000-gallon catch basin to recycle wastewater and eliminate groundwater discharges. The second involved construction of a 42,000-square-foot warehouse.

The combined cost of the two jobs was about $2.94 million.

The commissioners will address the tax break request at 9:15 a.m. The public hearing was held last week, so no further public comment will be accepted today.