Time for the other shoe to drop in gas-rich Garfield County. First came the recession-fueled natural gas drilling bust starting in late ’08, and now comes the precipitous drop in tax revenues officials have been predicting in the Gas Patch…
State Rep. Kathleen Curry, a Western Slope Democrat who in the past has spearheaded legislation aimed at the state’s oil and gas industry, told the Colorado Independent recently that she’s not looking to introduce new regulations this session. Instead, she will seek to strengthen the Mineral Audit Program, which is tasked with making sure the industry is paying all of the taxes it owes to Colorado.
Even as domestic drilling for natural gas has dropped off dramatically due to the recession, more and more states and local governments are looking to up taxes on the industry in order to bolster desperately depleted budgets.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in recent days has dampened the hopes of state lawmakers who are pushing to revive Colorado’s long-dormant oil shale industry.
Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert sees the more than $10 million that oil and gas companies have pumped into fighting Amendment 58, which eliminates a tax credit the industry has enjoyed since the 1970s, as a huge waste of money.
The day after U.S. Interior Department officials detailed for Congress the sordid sex and drug scandal in its Denver oil royalty office, a spokesman for a group trying to roll back oil and gas tax subsidies in Colorado said public outrage can only help Amendment 58.
With a record 18 proposals on everything from oil and gas taxes to unions to the developmentally disabled to gambling, Colorado voters will be weighing in on the longest ballot in Colorado since 1912 — and the largest in the United States this year.
If you don’t think the oil and gas development on the Western Slope is affecting you, read on. For instance, your city’s proposed improvements could falter by the lack of funding from the Department of Local Affairs which survives on…
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
rss