Updated May 13
Local officials approved tax abatements for Janicki Industries during their May 12 meetings.
Cascade County Commissioners approved two abatements, one for property tax and one for equipment, during their morning meeting.
City Commissioners approved a property tax abatement during a special meeting Tuesday evening.
Janicki requested the tax abatements for their prospective new expansion in AgriTech Park, on the east side of Great Falls, with about 185.5 acres within the city limits.
The Washington-based company is considering Great Falls and Twin Falls, Idaho as finalists as it selects the site for an estimated $830 million expansion.
City, county commissioners set hearings on Janicki tax abatement request for May 12
The company has said tax incentives and infrastructure support will be key factors in the final decision.
A Janicki spokesperson told The Electric in late April that the company is no longer considering Butte or East Helena for potential sites.
Janicki applied to the city and county for a new and expanding industry tax abatement, available under state law.
The proposed property is within the East Industrial Park tax increment financing district, which is set to expire in 2028, unless extended by commissioners or by bonding in the tax increment financing district, which they’ll be asked to approve next week for a different project.
City considering tax abatement for Janicki project
Under state law, the abatement allows a property to be taxed at 50 percent of its taxable value for the first five years after “commencement of construction,” and each year thereafter, the percentage must be increased by equal percentages until the full taxable value is attained in the tenth year.
In subsequent years, the property must be fully taxed.
Janicki is requesting a phased approval so that each phase will have its own separate tax abatement period, according to the city staff report.
The county also applied for an equipment tax abatement, which is only considered at the county level.
Under state law, county commissioners cannot deny the abatement, but can choose whether to set it at 100, 90 or 80 percent.
County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the 80 percent level.
During the morning meeting, County Commissioner Joe Briggs said the Janicki proposal was the culmination of years of work by the Great Falls Development Alliance.
He sits on the GFDA board and said that many years ago, “that board took a tremendous risk by starting to build” what is now AgriTech Park to have a rail-ready lot when a company came looking.
It was not an “overnight success,” Briggs said. “This one is exactly what tax abatement is designed for,” in recruiting a company to locate in Great Falls.
He said the abatement will help offset some of the significant soil costs for Janicki to address fatty clays in the area.
Nick Lavacca, Janicki community relations manager, told county commissioners that Janicki’s founders grew up in small communities and that’s why they look for smaller communities to base their operations.
He said the company received 42,000 applications last year and staff reviews all of them. He said they work to hire and shop local as an investment in communities.
Lavacca said Great Falls is an “awesome” community and Janicki wants to be in a place where they can grow and succeed with the community.
Janicki will bring increased traffic, people and likely housings costs, Lavacca said, as they build, plus there are companies that want to be located near Janicki.
But, with their company would also come increased job and education opportunities and community activity.
The Great Falls Association of Realtors submitted a letter to the county in support of the abatement.
Jolene Schalper, of GFDA, said “the economic impact of this project will be tremendous. This is a generational opportunity.”
She said a Janicki campus would shape Great Falls and bringing more aerospace industry to Montana would have a ripple effect.
Sherrie Arrey of NeighborWorks Great Falls said the Janicki team visited the High School House and the students were excited about the potential for internships with Janicki to expand their skills.
She said students need jobs to be able to stay in Great Falls and afford housing.
Lance Boyd, an assistant superintendent for Great Falls Public Schools, said the district has a history of career and technical education programs and Janicki could give students opportunities to look at career fields that don’t currently exist in Great Falls.
Boyd said that while meeting with the Janicki team, GFPS officials said, “we’re primed and ready to go for this opportunity.”
Jim Morin, a Great Falls resident who also consults for the city and GFPS on energy contracts, said “we need this company and I hope they need Great Falls, Montana.”
Michael Dube, a local physician, said that his daughter studied aerospace engineering and couldn’t get a job in Montana.
He said she currently works for Janicki.
Dan Rooney, general manager of ADF in Great Falls, said that they see some potential recruitment challenges if Janicki comes to town, but they also see opportunities for the community.
ADF requested, and was granted, tax abatement about 10 years ago, which helped tremendously and the company is still here, Rooney said.
Glenn Bliss, president of General Distributing Company, said he supported the tax incentives as “opportunities like this do not come around very often.”
No one spoke in opposition to the tax abatements during the county commission meeting.
County Commissioner Eric Hinebauch moved to approve the property tax abatement and said he hoped Janicki chooses Great Falls.
Briggs said it had been “a long time since I’ve seen the community come together in favor of something.”
He said Janicki is the right company to align with since it’s not an outside entity coming in to change the community, but one that recognizes and shares the community’s values.
“This is just a tremendous project,” he said.
Commissioner Jim Larson said he would like to be 25 again so he could go to work for Janicki.
County commissioners unanimously approved the property tax abatement.
On the equipment abatement, Schalper, of GFDA, said that typically they’d bring the request after the facility was built and the company was bringing in equipment.
But in this case, GFDA discussed it with staff and decided to bring the request early to send a clear message to Janicki that the community supported the project.
Hinebauch moved to approve the equipment abatement at 80 percent.
Briggs said the equipment abatement, which is only reviewed by the county, and is different under state law in that the county cannot deny an eligible request.
Larson said they can’t turn it down, but can choose between 80, 90, or 100 percent.
He said they had the same option with a recent Calumet request and also chose 80 percent in that case.
During the City Commission meeting Tuesday evening, Brock Cherry, city planning director, said if Janicki selects the AgriTech lot, the company may not need to come back through the commission for land use approvals since already appropriately zoned.
He said that Janicki indicated they may want to start moving dirt in June if they select the Great Falls site.
The company will still need building permits and associated approvals for infrastructure work.
Lavacca told city commissioners that Joe Janicki, son of company president John Janicki, graduated from Montana State University.
According to the university, he graduated with a master’s in mechanical engineering in 2021 and is now working for the company.
At the city’s meeting, opponents spoke first.
Among them was Valynda Holland, a candidate for the Montana Senate.
She said she supports economic growth, good-paying jobs and investment in the community, but that shouldn’t mean giving corporations special treatment while everyday Montanans continue carrying the financial burden.
Holland said small businesses struggle to get loans and financing but large companies get tax breaks before even operating in the city.
“Great Falls deserves growth that works for everyone, not just those at the top,” Holland said.
Talan Harrington said that sometimes corporations get tax breaks but don’t do much for the community.
He suggested that the city should consider conditions for tax abatements, such as requiring a percentage of construction workers or employees to be hired locally.
State law doesn’t currently provide for such conditions.
Schalper of GFDA said that she’s learned through this process that “Janicki is about the people. Janicki wants a community that wants them.”
The AgriTech lot Janicki is eyeing is currently taxed at agricultural value and will stay that way until a company invests in the property, she said.
Gary Hackett, a downtown developer, said that he received two tax abatements for his projects, which helped him finish those projects, resulting in 39 housing units downtown.
Heather Hoyer, GFPS superintendent, said that “our greatest export is our kids” and the opportunity presented by Janicki for students and families is “immense.”
Aaron Weissman, owner of several Teriyaki Madness locations in Montana, said “our community needs momentum, it needs growth.”
Good-paying jobs such as those offered by Janicki would create ripple effects.
Brad Talcott, a local developer, said that Great Falls has challenging soils and tax incentives could be burned up by construction delays quickly, so “the pressure is on the city now, because they have to find ways to do things they’ve never done before.”
Jeni Dodd, a regular public meeting goer, said that she’s normally against tax abatements but was impressed by Janicki’s presentation and supported of their request.
Commissioner Rick Tryon said he was impressed with Janicki’s proposal and “you and this community are a perfect fit.”
Commissioner Casey Schreiner said he’s pickier and typically wants more details.
He said community impact was important to him and “what you see tonight is a lot of people who disagree on a lot of things, who came here tonight and said we agree on this.”
Commissioner Joe McKenney said, “there’s cost to no change. I see this as a strategic investment in our community.”
City commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the tax abatement. Commissioner Shannon Wilson was absent.
Great Falls a finalist for Janicki Industries expansion
The project is proposed in phases, with major site work and infrastructure improvements required, according to the city staff report, including:
- road improvements and expansion
- adjustments to utility access points to meet enhanced infrastructure demands
- extensive soil replacement and foundation reinforcement to ensure long‑term structural stability
- construction of multiple new facilities, including training centers, business relations offices, employee campus housing, engineering and design spaces, and expanded manufacturing buildings to support operational needs
Janicki is working with state and local officials to “assess available tools and incentives, recognizing that startup and site‑development costs are critical to the company’s final location decision,” according to the staff report.
The company’s release regarding the two final sites under consideration for the expansion stated that it was “pursuing infrastructure support to offset site development costs.”
State law requires that both the city and county consider the tax abatement on a project-by-project basis.
If one local governing body approves the tax abatement and the other does not, the abatement only applies to mills levied by the approving governing body.
The abatement does affect school funding, but excludes base mills levied by the county for schools and the state education equalization mills.
GFPS officials spoke in favor of the abatements at both the county and city meetings on May 12.
City approves tax abatement for hotel, hospital projects [2022]
In their application, Janicki estimates that, once complete, the full annual tax assessment on the property would be $6,549,250.
With the abatement, the property would generate $3,274,625 in annual taxes, compared to $0 without the abatement.
The city’s current tax abatements are:
In their application materials, Janicki wrote that “availability of the tax benefit for these approved phases is a critical factor in Janaki’s evaluation of Great Falls as the project location.”
“We see great opportunity in Great Falls, however, the scale of upfront investment required to build a campus of this size means that competitive tax and infrastructure support will be a deciding factor in where we ultimately build,” Nick Lavacca, Janicki community relations manager, wrote in the application materials.
City staff wrote in their staff report that the proposed Janicki facility would “generate significant taxable value and sustain economic activity well beyond the abatement period. Transforming underdeveloped land into an advanced manufacturing campus provides a lasting contribution to the city’s tax base and establishes a durable economic anchor that continues to drive reinvestment in adjacent commercial and industrial areas.”
City approves permit for transloading facility in AgriTech Park [2024]
Building within the AgriTech Park “ensures that past investments in utilities, transportation access, and rail infrastructure achieve their intended economic return. This strengthens the district’s foundation and encourages additional private capital to follow.”
If Great Falls is selected, the Janicki project “would lead to a significant increase in taxable value and economic activity, long after the abatement period. As the property transitions from underdeveloped land to a fully built-out advanced manufacturing campus, it will contribute substantially to the city’s tax base. More importantly, it establishes a durable economic anchor that drives continued reinvestment in surrounding commercial and industrial areas,” staff wrote.
