Dan Neal of the Equality State Policy Center recently posted this opinion piece on its website regarding the severance tax, the fuel tax, and the need to find funding for Wyoming’s highways and roads:
New severance tax needed to support…severance tax
Economic report: Wyo rides high on fossil fuels
Economic report: Wyo rides high on fossil fuels
To state the obvious; Wyoming’s economy rides high on fossil fuels, and it crashes with them, too.
I just opened Headwaters Economics’ new 102-page report, “Fossil Fuel Extraction and Western Economies,” released …
As coal prices soar, Wyoming needs to increase severance taxes
Gov. Matt Mead and the newly convened Legislators should at least look at what former Gov. Sarah Palin did in Alaska, in modifying that state's severance tax rates.
My understanding is that the Alaska system involves indexing rates, which is what Wyoming should consider. As coal prices rise, so should the severance tax rate. As prices go down, so should the rate. This is fair and market-driven. With an outlook this promising, Wyoming citizens and the future generations of Wyomingites will benefit greatly.
A Quick History Of American Severance Taxes
Severance tax collections evolve in stages that depend upon price, the amount of mineral left in the ground, and the shape of a state’s finances.
In America, severance taxes began in Texas in 1905, then re-appeared Michigan and Louisiana in …