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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Bill DeWeese |
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DeWeese promotes restoring natural gas taxation
HARRISBURG, Feb. 3 – State Rep. Bill DeWeese told the House Finance Committee on Tuesday that his legislation to permit counties, school districts and municipalities to assess natural gas for the purposes of real estate taxation would restore an ability lost in a 2002 state Supreme Court decision.
DeWeese said H.B. 10, which was the topic of the hearing, would put natural gas in the same category as other underground resources already assessed for tax purposes, including coal, limestone and sand.
With the explosive growth already under way for extracting gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale, DeWeese said his bill brings basic fairness to the equation while providing local entities a modest revenue boost.
"This is a phenomenal opportunity for us, relative to the Marcellus Shale," DeWeese said. "It’s an opportunity to revivify a revenue stream for rural communities, school districts and counties."
Others testifying in support of H.B. 10 included Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania; Elam Herr, assistant executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors; and Ed Troxell, director of government affairs for the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.
Because of its current assessment exemption, Hill said the oil and gas industry is not paying its fair share, creating a tax burden borne by everyone else, including homeowners. Hill said the gas industry creates additional costs for local governments, from bridge and road repairs to added strains on social services created by an influx of out-of-state workers, so it should pay more.
Herr said that taking any entity out of the tax mix means someone else picks up the cost, so, "We’re looking at equity and restoring some fairness to the property tax system" by supporting the bill. Troxell said the added revenue created by the legislation would fulfill his association members’ desire to protect their communities and residents.
DeWeese, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington, said his bill differs from proposals to impose a severance tax on natural gas, a distinction also made by Finance Committee Chairman Rep. David Levdansky, D-Allegheny/Washington.
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