HARRISBURG – Bedford County will receive nearly $57,000 in funding thanks to natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, Rep. Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Fulton) and Sen. Pat Stefano (R-32) announced.
“Because of the Impact Fee, costs that would be the taxpayers’ responsibility are not. Instead, we are able to smartly use one of the state’s natural resources for the benefit of Bedford County and all of Pennsylvania,” Stefano said.
Bedford County will receive $56,655 through the impact fee tax drilling companies were charged in 2022. Between 2018 and 2022, the county has received $226,115 through the fund.
Under Act 13, impact fees are imposed on the extraction of natural gas and fluctuate depending on price and the rate of inflation. Fees are collected from the drilling companies with 15 percent of the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund distributed to counties, regardless of whether the county has wells located within its borders.
“This fair distribution of drilling funds provides money to all counties across the Commonwealth for the benefit of residents,” Topper said. “This format is more reasonable than a severance tax that would be passed onto consumers.”
CONTACTS:
Greg Gross, 717-260-6374 (Topper)
Jake Gery, 717-787-7175 (Stefano)