Jefferson County’s commissioners are expected to approve a $311,460 corporate personal property-tax rebate today for Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp., helping clear the way for production upgrades at the lidmaker’s Golden plant.
The rebate, which represents a 50-percent- a-year tax discount over four years, is contingent on Ball’s plans to expand its operations with a $22.5 million manufacturing line, said Preston Gibson, head of the Jefferson Economic Council.
Ball also will spend about $4 million to expand its building at 4525 Indiana St. by about 35,000 square feet, said Scott McCarty, a company spokesman.
Broomfield-based Ball Corp., whose beverage- container division produces lids for beer and soda cans, employs 315 people at its Golden plant. Ball is also well-known for its aerospace business.
It’s unlikely that the pending expansion will produce new jobs, McCarty said. Rather, the rebate will help Ball retain its current workers and deter other states from trying to entice Ball to move elsewhere with tax breaks or other incentives, Gibson said.
“We use it as a retention tool,” Gibson said of the rebate.
The expansion will also serve as an economic driver for the area, Gibson said. Ball’s upgrades will have “a trickle-down effect” on the Jefferson County economy, he said.
Based on current financial projections, the total economic effect of the plant on Jefferson County will reach $117 million over five years, Gibson said. Increased tax revenue, construction contracts and additional spending by employees will account for much of that, Gibson said.
Countywide revenue is expected to be $8.9 million, he said.
“We look at it as an investment,” Gibson said. “It helps the company create wealth for the state.”
The commissioner’s office declined to comment on the pending vote. However, the commission views such exemptions as a means to “foster economic development,” said the office’s Heather Baniszewski.
The new production line will replace Ball’s 20- year-old technology. Installation is expected to begin within three months, with completion scheduled for next summer.
The upgraded production line will conform to the new standard-size lids being adopted by the beverage industry.
“It is upgrading our technology to stay competitive,” Ball’s McCarty said.
Ball’s packaging operations represent about 88 percent of the company’s $5 billion in annual sales, McCarty said.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
