Property Tax Reform is Right Beneath our Feet
Under Dinniman Bill, Each Homeowner Would Save Nearly $150 By 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2010

CONTACT: MARTIN INDARS      
PHONE: 610-692-2112     
mindars@pasenate.com

WEST CHESTER (March 2) - State Senator Andy Dinniman wants to reduce homeowers’ local property taxes by hundreds of dollars a year with revenues from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas.

On Monday, Senator Dinniman introduced SB 1254, under which Pennsylvania would join every other major natural gas producing state in the imposition of a natural gas severance tax. But in contrast to the other states - which direct all or most of their revenue to various government agencies - Dinniman believes Pennsylvania should use most of its severance-tax revenue for property tax relief.

It’s estimated that a natural gas severance tax would provide $478 million in property-tax relief by 2014, which would reduce the average annual property tax bill by $148.

“As natural gas production increases, and it will, so will the funds for property tax relief,” Dinniman noted. “The momentous growth of this Pennsylvania industry is evidenced by Mitsui and Co.’s recently announced plans to invest up to $4 billion in the gas fields.”

“The Legislature has been talking about property tax reform forever. We have an opportunity right now to reduce property taxes, and it’s located beneath our feet,” Dinniman said, referring to Pennsylvania’s vast resources of Marcellus Shale gas revenues. “The citizens don’t want Marcellus Shale gas revenues for new government programs; they want and need property tax relief.”

Dinniman said, “When we combine natural gas property tax relief with funds from the 2004 Gaming Act - which will provide an average of $190 in property tax relief this year - we are finally talking real, significant tax relief.”

In addition to property tax relief, the bill would dedicate $50 million in severance tax revenues to local communities affected by the drilling and transportation of natural gas and to the environment, to be divided in the following way: local governments and communities directly impacted by the drilling and transmission of natural gas ($22 million), the Environmental Stewardship Fund ($22 million), the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission ($3 million) and the Pennsylvania Game Commission ($3 million).

“Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale reserves provide a wonderful economic opportunity for Pennsylvania and one we should take advantage of, but we can’t turn a blind eye to the environmental concerns that come with the extraction of this resource,” Dinniman said. “So it just makes sense to divert some portion of natural gas revenues to the environment.”

Dinniman concluded, “Protecting the environment and meaningful property tax relief is a win for all Pennsylvanians,”

For more details, contact Martin Indars in Senator Dinniman’s office at 1-610-692-2112 or at mindars@pasenate.com.

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