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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Deberah Kula
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Kula working to help communities impacted by drilling
Preparing a bill that would allow for property assessment fees on oil and natural gas
HARRISBURG, April 27 – State Rep. Deberah Kula, D-Fayette/Westmoreland, is preparing a bill that would allow local communities impacted by natural gas drilling to impose a property fee on oil and natural gas.
Under Kula's proposal:
· Mineral rights would be assessed and taxed separately from the surface property. The value would be assessed against the drilling companies that are producing oil and gas for commercial benefit, not the landowner on whose property the wells are located;
· Oil and gas producers would not be able to recover any portion of the tax from the royalty owner through deduction, reallocation, or any other means;
· The money collected would stay in the local community; the state would receive none of the revenue.
"We must give communities impacted by drilling the ability to recover the costs from the out-of-state companies, not local taxpayers," Kula said. "Not only would this legislation allow counties to address such immediate problems as road damage and environmental issues caused by drilling, but this bill could help to prevent future tax increases for residents in and around drilling sites."
On Dec. 19, 2002, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided in Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania, et al v. Board of Assessment Appeals of Fayette County that the General Assembly had not explicitly recognized oil and gas as a taxable interest. Kula said that this legislation would correct that oversight, benefiting counties, local municipalities, school districts and their taxpayers.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, in 2010, there were 362 permits and 134 wells drilled in Westmoreland County, and 110 permits and 31 wells drilled in Fayette County.
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| CONTACT: Lauren Rooney |