Six PA Counties to Receive $10M+ from New Impact Fee in 2012

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Washington County is among six counties in Pennsylvania that stand to receive more than $10 million in impact fee revenue this year from the newly adopted Marcellus drilling legislation signed into law by Gov. Corbett on Monday.

In accordance with legislation Gov. Tom Corbett signed Monday, Washington County commissioners are preparing to advertise a proposed ordinance to allow the county and its municipalities to receive impact fees from the Marcellus Shale gas industry.

The county taking the lead means a majority of municipalities don’t have to band together on their own to impose the fee countywide.

According to an Associated Press story, counties that impose the fee will share 60 percent of the money with their municipalities after a cut goes to state agencies and a program to help buy natural gas-powered fleet vehicles.

That could mean more than $10 million flowing later this year to each of Pennsylvania’s most heavily drilled counties, including Washington, Greene, Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming and Susquehanna.*

*Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter (Feb 16, 2012) – County to seek Marcellus fees

Click on the map below (created by StateImpact) for an interactive version showing how much total revenue is likely to be collected, including the county-only portion (which does not include the municipalities’ portion). To see the breakdown of who-gets-what from the new impact fee, see MDN’s companion story today.

Click for interactive map