Wyoming County, municipalities receive $2.2 million in natural gas impact fees

Wyoming County and its municipalities will share more than $2.2 million in impact fee revenue derived from natural gas producers in Pennsylvania during 2024, state Rep. Tina Pickett and state Sen. Lisa Baker announced this week.

Wyoming County received $837,113, while the county’s 23 municipalities collectively received more than $1.4 million, the legislators announced in a news release.

Nearly $165 million was generated statewide for the 2024 production year. Since impact fees went into effect in 2012 following the enactment of Act 13, more than $2.9 billion has been returned to communities across Pennsylvania, according to the Public Utility Commission, the agency charged with collection.

Sixty percent of the total impact fee revenue is divided among municipalities with drilling activity, while the remaining 40% is collected for statewide uses through the Marcellus Legacy Fund. Local counties also see a share of that revenue.

For a breakdown of impact fee revenue by municipality, visit https://shorturl.at/stbrO and click on “County and Municipality Disbursement” to access a chart listing amounts distributed,

According to that chart, four Wyoming County municipalities received impact fee revenue of more than $100,000:

• Washington Twp., $232,669.

• Meshoppen Twp., $211,349.

• Windham Twp., $177,919.

• Lemon Twp., $141,164.

“I am pleased Wyoming County communities continue to reap the economic benefits of the impact fees created by Act 13,” said Pickett, R-110. “The extra revenue helps local governments mitigate the effects of drilling activity and also supports other local improvement projects.”

“From the beginning, I believed the growth of this industry—with the jobs and energy produced—must be balanced with money that would be used to advance community and conservation activities,” said Baker, R-20. “We are now seeing the benefits spread around the region for an array of locally identified priorities. This is our return on the substantial investment that companies are making. I am confident that our local officials will put these funds to good purpose.”