[vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The following is a letter to the editor by Gina Severcool Suydam, Executive Director of the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce. It was published in the April 24, 2015 edition of the Scranton Times-Tribune and has been republished here with her consent.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/2″]Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed severance tax would be devastating to Wyoming County, which has witnessed impressive economic growth by the natural gas industry.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image css_animation=”” image=”7685″ border_color=”” img_link_large=”” link=”https://wellsaidcabot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Gina.jpg” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Yes, Wyoming County has experienced a tremendous revitalization as result of natural gas. Our Third Quarter average weekly wages rose from $700 in 2008 to $904 in 2014 – a stunning 29 percent gain in just six years. Our average weekly wages for the natural resources and mining industry, which we’ve always had in Wyoming County, grew from $642 to $1,594, a 148 percent increase, over the same period.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Meanwhile, the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns data indicates that from 2007 to 2012 our first quarter employee numbers grew by 2,626 or 32 percent as Marcellus Shale development reinvigorated our local economy.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The same data show the annual payroll for all Wyoming County employees jumped from $273 million to $639 million – an astounding 134 percent gain. Furthermore, the number of business establishments in our county grew from 629 to 658, which means we not only grew new businesses but, more importantly, retained and expanded existing businesses – everyone from equipment suppliers to barbecue specialists.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]These remarkable gains didn’t happen by accident. This is what natural gas has done for us, not to mention the new hotels, our filled restaurants and other indicators of economic success we could have only dreamed of before there was Marcellus Shale gas. Several gas companies have located large complexes here, including Williams and Southwestern Energy, for example.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The industry is so important to us at the chamber we sponsor an annual Energy & Education Expo at which 150 vendors meet to feature services and share information about the future of Marcellus Shale, safety, natural gas service to our county, pipeline development, and manufacturing with natural gas. Natural gas has become the basis of a new sustainable economy.
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[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image css_animation=”” image=”7686″ border_color=”” img_link_large=”” link=”https://wellsaidcabot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Wyoming-County-Chamber.jpg” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]All this is threatened by a governmental double-whammy. We are suffering low prices that result, to a significant degree, from neighboring states holding up pipeline development, preventing the industry from transferring our gas to market and satisfy latent demand.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The biggest threat now, though, is the proposed severance tax. This tax would be a serious additional cost burden in maintaining the competitiveness of Pennsylvania natural gas, consuming any marginal advantage our producers currently have over gas from other areas.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Worse, the governor’s proposal to set an arbitrary floor to that tax would make it completely impossible to recover the costs from other consumers. Suppose Gov. Wolf did this with Pa’s 6% sales tax and we go to pay $10 for something at our local hardware store. The calculated tax on the bill will be based on $25 not $10. Well, that’s exactly what Tom Wolf proposes to do to our shale gas industry in Wyoming County. Frankly, it’s just inexplicable.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Bottom line: Wolf’s proposed severance tax is a Wyoming County economy killer.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Gina Severcool Suydam
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Executive Director
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]