Impact Fee Vs. Tax :: Clearfield County Commissioners Comment

CLEARFIELD – On Tuesday the Clearfield County Commissioners expressed their opinion on where money collected from the Marcellus Shale drilling industry should go.

The commissioners stated they were in favor of an impact fee as opposed to a tax. According to the commissioners, collected taxes would go to Harrisburg. The stated they according to governor’s proposed legislation, the majority collected impact fees would stay local.

The topic came up after a group of concerned citizens brought up the proposed disposal injection well in Brady Township. At one point the conversation went toward the issue of Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed legislation regarding impact fees and the Marcellus Shale gas well drilling industry.

Commissioner Joan Robinson-McMillen indicated that under the proposed structure, the state would receive 25 percent of the collected fee. Of that, 4.5 percent would go to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency; 3.75 percent would go to the State Fire Commission; 3.75 to the Department of Health; 7.5  percent to the Public Utilities Commission; 105 percent to DEP; and 70 percent to PennDOT. The other 75 percent would go to the county that collected the fee. Of that, 36 percent would be retained by the county; 37 percent would be distributed to the host municipalities and 27 percent would go to the other municipalities in the county, based on a formula.

McMillen said that money taken in by the county and municipalities could then be used for a variety of projects related to impacts from natural gas develpoment, including: water, stormwater and sewer construction and repair, infrastructure improvements, preservation and reclamation of surface or subsurface water supplies, delivery of social services, offsetting increased judicial costs and county or municipal planning, as well as other items.

Counties and municipalities would be required to publish annual reports onthe amount expended, purpose and relationship to natural gas drilling.

Based on the number of wells drilled in the county up to Sept. 26, McMillen figured that, of the 75 percent ($1,350,000) allocated to the county, Clearfield County would receive $486,000; host municipalities would receive $499,500 and the amount to be split with the other municipalities would be $364,500.

The commissioners admitted that the proposal was a start, and that it would likely change before getting passed into law.

“This board supports collecting … at a local level,” said McMillen.