[vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The Pittsburgh Region
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/2″]The numbers recently released by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced that Pennsylvania is getting $223.5 million in Impact Fee funds, $48 million of which is going to the Pittsburgh area. The money from Pennsylvania’s Impact Fee allotment will not only go to communities that host Marcellus Shale and other gas wells to assist in rehabilitation of their roads, but will also go to every other county and municipality in the Commonwealth, as well. These areas across Pennsylvania will use the fees on conservation, green corridors and other environmental initiatives to maintain a beautiful community.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”8003″ border_color=”” img_link_large=”” link=”” img_link_target=”” img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Community Allotments
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]According to the data, Washington and Greene counties will receive the most money in the region due to the heavy drilling in their area. Washington County and its municipalities will receive $17.6 million, and Greene County and its municipalities will receive $11.8 million. Butler County communities will receive $5.7 million, followed by communities in Westmoreland County with $3.7 million, Fayette County with $3.5 million and Allegheny County with $2.2 million.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Washington County Commission Chairman Larry Maggi commented on this year’s allotment:
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/2″]“We’re really pleased with the numbers. It gives us and the municipalities an opportunity to do projects we might not otherwise be able to do. We’re taking care of our bridges, rehabbing roads and rehabbing infrastructure.”The Philadelphia Region
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image css_animation=”” image=”8005″ border_color=”” img_link_large=”” link=”https://wellsaidcabot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/philly.jpg” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Pittsburgh isn’t the only large city region being affected by the benefits of the natural gas drilling Impact Fees. According to the 2014 data, the Philadelphia area is also receiving a large sum of $1,488,921.84 to go towards improving their city and surrounding areas.
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For every county in Pennsylvania, the categories of permitted spending include:

• road/bridge/infrastructure
• water/storm water and sewer systems
• environmental programs
• preservation and reclamation of waters and water supplies
• tax reductions, including homestead exclusions
• safe and affordable housing; records management
• geographic information systems and information technology
• delivery of social services
• judicial services
• deposit into reserve fund for future use in one of the spending categories
• career and technical centers for training workers for the oil and gas industry
• local or regional planning initiatives

In Other News
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]While the Severance Tax battle is still raging, the fact still remains the same, the Impact Fee benefits Pennsylvania communities tremendously and getting rid of that would do more harm than good. Overall, a Pennsylvania Impact Fee policy outweighs the benefits of a Severance Tax, recently proposed by Governor Wolf. The Impact Fee helps to create Pennsylvania jobs, while a Severance Tax would push job opportunities out of the Commonwealth all together.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]You can read more about the Pennsylvania Impact Fee on the oil and gas industry that continues to help hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, the 2014 natural gas production data, the community distribution of funds and what they’re doing with that money in our blog post on “The Benefits of the Impact Fee”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]