Shale royalties could help fund road repairs
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HARRISBURG -- A grim national economic outlook has given the Corbett administration pause as it crafts a proposal for raising billions of dollars for road and bridge repairs, but the Marcellus Shale industry could provide one source of unexpected assistance.
Royalty payments from gas wells on state-owned land, expected to total hundreds of millions annually in the coming years, possibly could help the state pay for infrastructure updates, state Department of Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said on Tuesday.
He said after a joint House and Senate committee hearing that those dollars, as well as portions of a potential impact fee reserved for municipalities, could reduce the state's fiscal burden for fixing deficient local roads.
Those shale-related revenue sources could provide some assistance, but lawmakers said they're waiting on Gov. Tom Corbett to present a broader package that would raise closer to the $2.7 billion that his advisory commission suggested.
Acknowledging that the governor has yet to say which of that panel's recommendations he would support, Mr. Schoch told lawmakers that the administration is "well aware that you and others are awaiting his decision."
When that administration proposal will be revealed is unclear, with Mr. Schoch saying the economic downturn in recent weeks made the governor and others cautious of how higher registration fees or using some sales-tax dollars for public transit programs would affect the state budget. Those are among the panel's recommendations.
Meanwhile, the secretary noted that Pennsylvanians are spending more of their own money on fuel as they idle in traffic or follow lengthy detours.
Estimating that the average driver spends about $30 a month on gasoline taxes, driver's license fees and vehicle registration, Mr. Schoch compared that to what residents spend on their cell phone or cable bills.
"All the other networks that we rely upon have a monthly charge," Mr. Schoch said. "If we did that, it would be the lowest cost for a network of all the networks we rely upon. ... Frankly we need to increase the monthly costs for our infrastructure."
A commission empaneled by the governor suggested in an August report, among other recommendations, uncapping a tax on wholesale gasoline and raising various motor vehicle fees to help pay for infrastructure repairs.
But with few sessions days this fall and a looming election year -- in which votes to raise taxes or fees are rare -- there's pressure on the General Assembly to act soon or wait until 2013, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John Rafferty said.
Dennis Yablonsky of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development urged policymakers to act sooner rather than later, noting that nearly 50 percent of those who work in Downtown Pittsburgh rely on a public transit system that could face another round of deep cuts next year.
Given the gloomy economic forecast, infrastructure spending should be an even greater priority, Mr. Yablonsky said. "It's the most immediate job-creation proposal that you can do," he said.
First Published September 28, 2011 12:00 am
