Advocates From PA, Ohio, West Virginia Urge Common Approach To Shale Gas Taxation

March 14, 2014
Posted By: Joshua F. Hall

As reported by Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station, 90.5 WESA, three advocacy groups, Leaders of Policy Matters Ohio, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, sent a letter to the governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia requesting a common severance tax for oil and gas production in all three states.  These advocacy groups suggest that the purpose of a common severance tax would be to provide consistency in the industry allowing each state to similarly benefit from the economic opportunities created by oil and gas production.  The letter asserts that a common policy would provide long-term predictability and take taxing out of the competitive equation between the states.  The letter recommends that West Virginia’s severance tax should be set as a minimum rate, as it is in the middle range of taxes in gas-producing states.

Severance Tax Bill Introduced in PA House to Benefit Transportation

January 22, 2014
Posted By: Edward P. Yim

Kevin Haggerty, a Democratic state representative from the northeast region of Pennsylvania, recently introduced House Bill 1947 to impose a 5% severance tax on the gross value of each unit severed, plus an additional 4.6 cents per unit.  “Unit” is defined to mean a thousand cubic feet of natural gas measured at the well head.  Unlike previous severance tax proposals that would spread the tax dollars across various programs and beneficiaries, this bill seeks to use the tax proceeds solely to benefit Pennsylvania’s transportation system via the Motor License Fund.

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