In addition to the more than $1.6 billion in state taxes that the natural gas industry has paid since 2006 in Pennsylvania, a recently enacted natural gas impact fee has generated $206 million for various programs, with the majority of these revenues going to local communities. Impact fee disbursements were announced by Governor Tom Corbett and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) in the middle of October, with nearly $109 million directed to local governments and communities.
To the second half of your question, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania does own a significant amount of land, mostly in the form of state forests, parks and game lands. A total of 700,000 acres of state land is currently under lease, and over time, will generate revenue once wells are drilled and natural gas is produced. It is this land that the state, and in turn you, own. Private property owners own the mineral resources beneath their land. And when wells are developed on private land, the state benefits through tax and impact fee revenues.
