Impact of Marcellus Shale, part 1
Legislative action on a Marcellus Shale severance tax is anticipated sometime next week (Sept. 20-24) and PSBA Governmental Affairs Specialist Lisa Schaefer has been talking to school districts where shale drilling is taking place. Lisa is chronicling the experiences of districts statewide, this one from the Jefferson Morgan School District.
The Jefferson Morgan School District has seen a wide variety of impacts from Marcellus Shale drilling, some of which cause great concern for the local community. The district has seen increased student enrollments this year, although the district has not explored the reasons for the increase. However, an estimated 50 to 70% of the Marcellus Shale workers in the area are from out of state. Many live in local hotels, while others reside in mobile homes and trailers.
One individual indicated there are currently about 20 wells in the district which produce 7.5 million cubic feet of natural gas each day. It’s anticipated that quadruple that many wells will be in place by the end of the Marcellus Shale drilling cycle. The district has around 40 acres it could lease, but is waiting for and evaluating offers.
Additional funding from a local share of severance tax would mean a lot to local property taxpayers in a district where the aid ratio for 2010-11 (a number from 0-1.0 that reflects a district’s market value, personal income and number of students) is .72. Higher aid ratios indicate lower relative local wealth (and thus a lower local tax base), and Jefferson Morgan’s aid ratio puts it in the top 15% of school districts in the state.
PSBA is hosting a free web conference on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at noon. Thomas B. Murphy, co-director of the Penn State Marcellus Shale Center for Outreach and Research will discuss what is the Marcellus Shale and how it might impact school districts. He will be joined on the call by PSBA staff who will provide a legislative update. (Registration and information is here: http://www.psba.org/workshops/web-conference/index.asp)
