The massive Haynesville Shale natural gas field in north Louisiana has triggered a feeding frenzy on mineral rights leasing and has led to good-paying jobs in the area. But John Maginnis says this economic boom hasn’t shown up in state severance tax collections, thanks to tax exemptions that promote drilling. Economists are divided over the value of the exemptions. LSU economist Loren Scott says the drilling exemptions are keeping Haynesville in play and generating sales taxes from exploration and income taxes on royalties and employment. But legislative economist Greg Albrecht says the tax breaks aren’t the incentive to drill in Haynesville; rather, it’s the near certainty of hitting gas with every well. “It’s an argument with two sides that the Legislature ought to examine to determine if the exemption should be kept, rescinded or adjusted to, say, 50% or one year. But instead of being deciding the issue on its merits, the governor and lawmakers appear to want to avoid the subject altogether,” Maginnis says. Read the full column here.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
