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