Governor Wolf Tries Again for PA Severance Tax

StateImpact Pennsylvania reports that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf wants natural gas drillers to pay a 6.5% severance tax on natural gas production, which he estimates will bring in $217.8 million dollars for the 2016/2017 fiscal year, a fraction of the billion dollars he projected last year’s severance tax proposal would generate.

The newest enactment of the proposed severance tax will keep the state’s impact fee, but will offer producers a credit for those fees which would reduce their severance tax payments.  That proposal was not included in last year’s unsuccessful attempt to impose a tax of 5 percent plus a separate fee of 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet of gas each well produces.  The proposal has been met with fierce opposition from industry leaders, who state that Governor Wolf is ignoring market realities of low oil and gas prices which have recently forced producers to cut capital expenditures.