Pennsylvania to examine gas drilling tax

Task force to be formed

By TOM KANE

HARRISBURG, PA - Gas production is not subject to real estate taxes in Pennsylvania. By a long-standing tax law, the assessment of local properties from which gas is recovered is unaffected. Consequently, those property owners pay no additional real estate taxes to the township. Additionally, gas companies pay no real estate taxes for the gas they extract in the state.

That all may change according to Pike County Commissioner Harry Forbes, who attended the Annual Conference of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) held early in August. Forbes, who serves as the vice chairman of the CCAP Resolutions Committee, said there was a heated workshop on gas drilling. “There was a very strong concern expressed at the session among commissioners and state legislators that this emerging industry has to be carefully examined,” he said. “While we welcome the possibility of generating a lot of new wealth in the state, there are concerns about the effects that this business will have on the environment of the state.”

He said that the legislators who attended the conference, among them senator Lisa Baker of the 20th Senate District and assemblyman Michael Peifer of the 139th Assembly District, said they wanted to have the legislature start some serious discussions on this taxation issue. Since the legislature is not in session, Baker and Peifer were unavailable for comment.

Counties like Pike and Wayne depend on tourism for a lot of the county’s income. “What effect will this activity have on that income?” Forbes asked.

Forbes said that many attendees expressed concern for the health of water resources. “When you despoil an aquifer, you may never get it back,” he said. “Water is one of the chief concerns of local governments. Also, many expressed the need for bonding of our roads. Heavy trucks and machinery are apparently doing a lot of damage in many townships.”

There was also concern expressed for how agriculture will be affected by the influx of money coming to farmers. “Will this stop them from farming, which is always a harsh occupation but is still the chief industry in the state?” he said.

Douglas Hill, executive director of CCAP, said that his organization will form a special taskforce with Penn State Cooperative Extension to study the implications of gas drilling and the taxation issue. “We want to examine where the state law is insufficient to handle this new industry,” Hill said.