An Independent Fiscal Office evaluation of Gov. Wolf’s proposed natural gas severance tax found it to have the highest effective lifetime tax rate of any severance tax in the country-- 7.4 percent at the wellhead, after the deduction of the existing Act 13 impact fees.

IFO said the existing Act 13 impact had a much lower effective tax rate of 1.1 percent at the wellhead.

The proposed severance tax would generate about $217.8 million in FY 2016-17, but none of the money is proposed by Gov. Wolf to go toward environmental programs.

The existing Act 13 impact fee is projected to generate $127.6 million in FY 2016-17, down from $185.5 million in FY 2015-16 and $223.5 million in FY 2014-15 as significant percentage of which goes to state environmental restoration programs and some local environmental work.

A copy of the IFO report is available online.

NewsClips:

Wolf’s Proposed Severance Tax Among Nation’s Highest

Editorial: New Severance Tax, Drilled By Wolf

5/9/2016