CFAC tax waiver rejected

No tax break will be given to the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., following unanimous votes Monday against such a plan by both the Flathead County commissioners and the Columbia Falls school board.

Following a public hearing, members of the two boards declined to approve a request by the company to reduce its taxes by 95 percent.

Most speakers at the hearing, along with elected officials, were against the idea.

Two people — Haley Beaudry (who had filed for the tax reduction on behalf of the aluminum company) and William Smith. Five people spoke against giving the parent company of the closed plant a tax break. About 25 people attended the meeting in Columbia Falls.

The aluminum company sought the reduction in taxes due this year for real property improvements and personal property under provisions of a new state law designed to give tax breaks to companies that closed their doors due to the economic downturn.

“The reason for the law is to get shut-down plants reopened,” Beaudry said. “That’s the reason for us asking for this tax break.” If the plant began operating again, it could provide about 250 jobs, he said.

The aluminum company ceased production on Oct. 31, 2009, after failing to reach an agreement on the cost of electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration. Negotiations between the two entities continue, Beaudry said.

Beaudry worked at the plant until it closed in 2009. Responding to a question Monday, he said he no longer is a CFAC employee. “I haven’t had a paycheck in a year and a half. I need a job. I want the plant opened.”

Pressed for an answer, Beaudry estimated it would cost between $10 million and $20 million to restart the plant. “The longer it’s closed, the higher we are raising the hurdle” for it to reopen, he said. “All we’re asking for here is less of a hurdle to get this planted started.”

Responding to another question, Beaudry said he thinks the plant will restart. And, in answering a question from county Commissioner Dale Lauman, he said he thought there are still enough people in the local work force to staff the plant if it restarted.

School board member Larry Wilson asked why the millions of dollars of profits generated by the plant in the decades it operated couldn’t be used to restart the facility. “None of the millions in profits from this plant over the years are left?” he asked Beaudry.

Like other businesses owned by a parent company, CFAC paid those profits to Glencore, its parent corporation, Beaudry said. And, he said, the plant didn’t generate a profit in either of the last two years it was open.

In his comments in support of the tax break, Smith said having the aluminum plant open again “would be to everybody’s benefit.”

A few speakers shared their concerns about Glencore.

Stefan Belman wondered why no one from Glencore was at Monday’s meeting. “If this was so important to the Glencore Corp., they would have had a representative here. They didn’t do that. They should be here representing themselves.

“I’m disappointed that a representative of this wealthy company didn’t come here to appeal,” Belman said.

Dee Brown said the aluminum company had always been a good partner with the community until Glencore became the owner. Since then, she said, “it’s been a little spotty.”

Brown said the time has arrived for that corporation to “come and clean it up and run it or close it down and tear it down.”

Wilson said Glencore officials “could have come here and said something about their plans.”

Mike Burr and Brian Doyle both said if the tax reduction came with a guarantee from Glencore that the plant would  reopen, they would be inclined to support it.

“I don’t think that is what Glencore is trying to do,” Doyle said.

“There’s not a soul in this room who wouldn’t support it if they said they’d reopen,” Burr said. “We cannot bet on the come. We’ve got to have jobs.” And giving the aluminum company a break on its taxes simply shifts the tax burden to everyone else in the Columbia Falls school district, he said.

Lauman made a similar remark: “It’s unfair to ask local taxpayers to assume the tax burden of a corporation.”

Wilson agreed with Burr’s last point. Tax payments in Columbia Falls are suffering, he said, because there are so many empty houses in the community. They’re empty as a result of foreclosures because the owners couldn’t find jobs, he said.

The school district simply can’t afford another hit, board member Barbara Riley said. “We’re closing a school in Hungry Horse.”

The aluminum company’s adjusted 2010 tax bill from the county was $462,140. The state had reduced the amount due by $82,537 because the plant is closed, according to Flathead County Treasurer Adele Krantz.

When Glencore, a Swiss-based commodities firm, launched its public share offering in mid-April, after four decades of private ownership, analysts estimated the company’s value at between $60 billion and $70 billion.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.