Comment

Comment by Thomas P Young Jr on April 29, 2011 at 10:55am

In that case I guess everyone in pa shoud be paying everyone that has leases property tax. I say tough to those that don't have it, like Pittsburgh and Philly. If Pittsburgh don't want to sell or get nvolved with leasing then they should not have any right to tax revenue from it, and as far as Philly goes, never been there or care to go there but if they want to get involved they should sell what they have and move! I'm tired of hearing about the negative stuff from people that don't own property, I don't own a lot but we need this industry here so we don't have to rely on foreign oil, etc. Like I said they should leave the little man alone and let them spend the money within the communities. Maybe they should just tax people that have over 250 acres, not people that own 1, 5, 10, 20 acres...... JMO.....

Comment by Jim lit on April 29, 2011 at 10:33am

I certainly agree that there should not be an extraction tax on gas but it is inevitable. You need to understand Pennsylvania politics. The large majority of the state population lives in the southeast quadrant of Pa, thus the legislature is controlled by Philly and the surrounding counties. Nothing happens in this state without their blessing.

Then look at a map of the Marcellus and Utica plays. You will note that neither are in that area. They are not getting any royalties, any signing bonuses, any jobs created by the industry. And they are not happy about that. In their world of envy and entitlement, this just isn't fair.

Even people in Pittsburgh have the same attitude. They don't want drilling in the city, which is their choice, but they want the revenues to fund their preferred projects and operating budget.

As they see it, hundreds of billions of $$$$ are coming into the state and they are not getting any direct payments. No matter how much revenue comes through indirect taxes on royalties, bonus payments, employee taxes. sales taxes, corporate taxes, and any other source they will clamor for a direct tax on gas extraction.


Add in that so-called environmentalists are against this energy source. They are angry because a cheap supply of nat gas will hurt their lovely "green energy" sources like wind and solar because of the very high cost of these sources. (Of course, they ignore all the environmental problems caused by these "green sources.")

With all the political power based in the Philly area and its surrounding counties, along with the environmentalists, add in the Pittsburgh crowd and you will see that a tax is inevitable. Just make it as small as possible with great benefits to the industry as I pointed out in my previous post.

Comment by ShaleGasNOW.com on April 28, 2011 at 9:02am

 

Jim Russo

 

There is not a need for a tax. The state is making money from leases,royalties, income tax, fuel tax from all the equipment,municipal landfills in the play,jobs created,etc. If an employer came to our area and told our city they would employ 30,000 to 50,000 people within 5 to 7 years we would give them every tax break we could. Let the industry grow. Thank you, and keep me informed, Jim Russo

Comment by Thomas P Young Jr on April 28, 2011 at 9:02am

Oh yeah I wish I could put little tracers on the $11,000 I paid back last year in taxes to see how they squander it! Meanwhile my family is still living paycheck to paycheck. Let's keep the rich, rich and the poor, poor here in PA, that is the right thing to do for our PA residents!!

Comment by Thomas P Young Jr on April 28, 2011 at 8:56am

With all of the property that the state owns (probably millions) they don't need to take from the little man. I know that they should not tax land owners on anything that they make off of the gas industry. What they should do is let the people spend the money within their community to help stimulate the economy. Something that our great president has failed to do! (And I was being sarcastic about him being great) The one thing that I don't like is that I already pay property taxes and the minerals or anything else on my property is considered my property! They just need to leave the people alone and worry about fixing things that need fixed!! Please Pennsylvania leave the little people alone and let us finally live a life without headache!!!! If they want to save money and make money they need to eliminate half of our government employees because we pay for way to many!!!!!

Comment by aktony on April 27, 2011 at 9:01pm

Businesses go where the business climate is most favorable.  Notice all the businesses missing from the U.S.A.?Gas companies are no different, they will operate where they can make the most profit.  That used to be a good thing in America.  Now, multinational companies incorporate outside America to avoid paying American taxes and locate manufacturing outside the the country as well.  All the while, selling their products and making profits in the United States.

 

The gas companies also do business for profit.  And provide jobs, and pay taxes, and repair and improve any areas they expose to additional wear and tear.  They will leave and go wherever the business climate favors them.   And they are going. For the first time, there are more rigs drilling for oil in shale than natural gas.  They are moving to Ohio!  And economically depressed Ohio knows a good thing and is welcoming them and providing business incentives.  A severance tax is the equivalent  of killing the goose which laid golden eggs....

Comment by ShaleGasNOW.com on April 27, 2011 at 8:17am

Carol:

 

Great POST! PA needs to be smart about taxing energy companies and understand that by  taxing companies heavily will just hurt PA residents in the end.

 

Thank you for participating.

-NaturalgasPA.com

Comment by Carol B on April 27, 2011 at 8:02am

Pa should NOT impose a severance tax on the Marcellus Shale industry.  I know I paid my share of income tax on a sign-on bonus last year.  Soon, I will be paying taxes on my royalties.  If a severance tax is put in place, that's just one more tax that's going to hurt PA residents - the gas companies aren't going to absorb all of the tax - they will pass it on to the mineral/royalty owners.  We need this industry to stay in PA and a tax and all of the negativity isn't going to keep it here long-term - another shale gas area will be discovered and they will leave if we tax too much and protest too much.  I know some will disagree, but that is my opinion from working in the industry. 

Comment by Jim lit on April 26, 2011 at 10:06pm

Angler8 made some great points.  I can add things like trucking companies, heavy equipment operators, stone-concrete-gravel suppliers, mechanics, pipelines and more.  But I believe a severance tax or some equivalent is inevitable. The key is to make such a tax and its use acceptable and even beneficial to the industry.

A substantial portion of any such tax revenue should be dedicated to advancing the conversion of vehicles from gasoline and diesel to CNG. Municipalities should be given partial funding to convert their vehicles like garbage trucks, buses, snow plows, fire and police, and other fleet cars to CNG.  And the CNG fueling stations they use should be operated by private contractor and available to the public so as to encourage other private fleets to convert by making CNG readily available. Give additional incentives for CNG stations to be built along all interstates and major highways and build a supply system for them.

This would help generate demand for nat gas, stimulate employment,  generate additional tax revenue, clean the air(since CNG burns cleaner), reduce dependance on foreign fuel sources, and improve our balance of trade. It would be a win/win for everyone.

Comment by Walt Vinoski on April 26, 2011 at 8:52pm

The state is making enough money off of everything.  We continue to lose jobs to countries and states with no personal income and no corporate taxation.  About 70% of the states budget is for the school system, this needs to be shed off, auctioned off, sold off to private corporations.  PA state government can then be trimmed by 25%, 10%, and 5% getting rid of services we just don't need.   When I see a PA Government bill-board telling me the legal drinking age is 21 year old, I know the commonwealth has too much cash already.   Most of us work for ourselves or corporations; each year we fight and struggle to become leaner and more efficient.  It it past time that all of our governments follow along.