Yellowstone County commissioners approved property tax reductions for the complex near Roundup that apply to its longwall mining equipment, according to an Associated Press report.

The longwall setup is valued at about $77 million.

Signal Peak qualified for the cuts as a new or expanding business, and will be eligible for the lower rate for 10 years.

In the first five years the property is taxed at 50% of normal rate, local newspaper the Billings Gazette outlined, and a 10% increase goes into effect each year after until it reaches 100% at the end of 10 years.

The surface operations of Signal Peak’s complex are in neighboring Musselshell County, south of Roundup, but its mining area is in both counties. Mining has been moving southward and is now in Yellowstone County.

Mine vice president and controller Darrell Roland told the commissioners that a portion of the longwall equipment was installed three years ago and the rest was installed last year.

As a result, the paper said, commissioners approved two resolutions on the equipment totaling $76.6m.

One, valued at $60.2m, is for the longwall equipment installed four years ago, with seven years of remaining breaks, and the second resolution includes equipment valued at $16.4m and installed last year.

The tax break will apply for the nine years remaining for that equipment.

Bull Mountain employs 325 workers, Roland told the regulators, 60% of whom live in Yellowstone County.

Payroll for the mine, which opened in July 2008, is about $39m annually and it has invested about $350m to date in improvements to the property.