Commissioners approve intent to grant 10-year tax abatement for Town and Country Supply expansion in Lockwood

The Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution of intent to grant a 10-year tax abatement to Town and Country Supply for a $6,400,000 expansion of its Lockwood facility and set a public hearing for 9 a.m. May 6 in Room 3108.

The county attorney's office representative, Diane, told commissioners the company’s application meets the definition of a “new and expanding industry” under the statute the office cited and described how the abatement would phase in over 10 years. “It allows for the new taxable value of the investment to be abated for over a period of 10 years,” Diane said. “The new investment would be taxed at either 50 or 25% for 5 years and then incrementally increase over the following 5 years until in year 10 they're paying the full value of the new tax investment.”

Diane said the resolution is the board’s formal step to declare intent and to schedule the public hearing required before any final abatement is granted. The resolution is numbered 25-58.

Wes Burley, chief executive officer of Town and Country Supply, told the board the expansion is intended to maintain fertilizer supply for agricultural producers during peak seasons. “We’ve basically done the expansions … to ensure that we have fertilizer supply during the season for our ag producers,” Burley said, describing changes in unit-train sizes on the railroad that helped prompt the expansion. He said the facility operates a high-capacity fertilizer operation, and cited past seasons when inventory constraints made it difficult to receive successive unit trains.

According to Diane’s summary, the Lockwood facility at 3737 Colson Road is part of the company’s agronomy division and includes a fertilizer “mega plant” with roughly 38,500-ton capacity and features to support fast load/unload and centralized dispatch. She also noted the company’s investment qualifies under the county’s interpretation of the referenced state statute for a 10-year abatement schedule.

A commissioner moved to approve the resolution of intent and set the May 6 public hearing; another commissioner seconded the motion. The board approved the resolution by voice vote; the minutes record a unanimous “aye” and state that resolution 25-58 passed. The transcript does not record an itemized roll-call tally.

There were no public comments on the item during the meeting. The board proceeded to routine claims, consent and file agenda items after the vote.