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Boroughs Say Don't Forget Local Governments In Leasing Of State Forest For Drilling
The PA State Association of Boroughs this week urged legislature not to forget local governments when considering the leasing of state forest land for natural gas drilling.

The association is respectfully asking the legislature and Governor to give local governments a portion of the leasing and royalty payments in order to protect local taxpayers from having their taxes raised to pay for impacts from the natural gas industry who have escaped the severance tax at this point.

“Just because the severance tax is off the table in Harrisburg, does not mean that the impact from natural gas drilling in our communities will be off the table for taxpayers in municipalities where natural gas drilling is taking place,” said association President Robert “Doc” Orr. “Our local governments do not want to have to increase local taxes.”

The association said that while they understand the state government’s need to balance a state budget, local governments need to do the same. Damage done by drillers will not simply disappear until the industry becomes a mature one. Conversely, it is during exploration and expansion that communities will face the most impacts.

“The simple truth is that exploration and drilling will continue to cause damage to local roads, bridges and infrastructure and those repairs will have to be paid for by somebody, which will happen to be the local taxpayer,” said Ed Troxell, Director of PSAB Government Affairs. “The only thing we have asked for consistently is a dedicated, reasonable funding stream that will essentially hold municipalities harmless, and thereby protect us from having to raise local taxes to pay for repairs. Nobody here is looking for a windfall.”

The association says it wants to continue to be part of the discussions on how to hold their citizens harmless in any plans for the state to levy revenues from natural gas drilling. The association has put forth a distribution plan which will provide additional revenue to both host and non-host municipalities in counties where natural gas is being extracted.

“Local governments should receive a portion of the funds raised from leasing state forest land, because the residents who live in our communities own the state forest land and should be entitled to receive a portion of the leasing option,” said Troxell. Every citizen in the Commonwealth will benefit from the leasing of state lands as a majority of the revenue generated under the leasing option will go to the state’s general fund; however, a portion must go to local governments where natural gas drilling is taking place.”

Local governments will use the revenue to maintain infrastructure, parks and recreation, industrial and commercial development, preservation and reclamation of the surface waters, municipal waste and sewage systems, police and emergency services and other purposes related to the consequences of severing natural gas in the municipality.

9/21/2009

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