Tax break was wisely rejected

Nice try, Glencore, but no way.

The Swiss-based parent company of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. had requested a substantial tax break under a new state law that allows firms to seek tax breaks when they shut their doors for economic reasons.

The aluminum plant has been shut down for the last two years, but Glencore certainly hasn’t been. A global metals and commodities giant, Glencore is estimated to be valued at between $60 billion and $70 billion. And the privately owned company recently announced it will be pursuing an initial public offering of stock, which should create an even richer future.

The Columbia Falls School Board and the Flathead County commissioners were justified in roundly rejecting the tax break this week.

Why should the county and the school district lose some $462,140, or be faced with the prospect of shifting that burden to local taxpayers?

Glencore is on the hook for a company it made money from in the past, and if it has an interest in reopening the plant, then it appears to have the assets to make that happen — regardless of the tax bill.

Heck, there isn’t even a certainty that a tax break would lead to new jobs, a fairly common goal for local governments that offer business tax incentives.

In this case, a spokesman for CFAC said the tax break would certainly help get the operation back in business, but there were no guarantees of that happening anytime in the near future.

From our experience, the question of whether CFAC was either partially or entirely operational has always been driven by power rates, not taxes. It would be nice to see the plant reopened because it was for years a mainstay employer and a community partner. But that’s a move that will be made by Glencore, not Flathead County taxpayers.