Arkansas Blog

"Gov. Mike Beebe's ongoing negotiations with gas producers and some legislators"

I guess that Beebe's meetings to negotiate away our natural resources and mollify the gas companies are exempt from FOIA.

Again, Beebe refuses to take a stand. He only knows how to accept a compromise crafted by the guilty. The gas companies already know his number. He will again convince the people of Arkansas to gladly accept half a moldy loaf rather than real justice.

Rather than softening the impact of reasonable severance taxes, we should be demanding reparations for all of those years that the gas companies ripped us off. We should be investigating those companies to make sure that the gas we were charged for was indeed that from other states with the higher severance taxes and not that from Arkansas. We may end up with an Enron-like perp-walk of gas company officials who for 50 years manipulated prices and legislators ... and governors.

**crickets**

Nuff said.

Sounds like David Sanders has swallowed the gas industries lies, hook, line, and sinker. On Arkansas Week, he warns us that if we tax them they will go away. The natural gas sites will not be moving though. Even in the very unlikely scenario that any severance tax will discourage drilling, the gas will be drilled eventually, probably sooner than later.

Once the gas is gone, what will we have to show for it? The temporary jobs will be gone; the related businesses will be gone. We will be left with the environmental and infrastructure damage and the boom-towns will deteriorate to ghost-towns. The state of Arkansas will be poorer with the short-term riches frittered away.

Let's stop acting as if there's no future.

Right on, JIm. Don't you think 15% would help with the "reparations" problem? And Max, screw the exemptions, screw the negotiations; our guv'nor should be out negotiating for a spine. As I have said before, those bastards wouldn't cut and run if the VOTE was for 30%: there's far too much easy money to be made. That $500 haircut from chesapuke I spoke with in OK City was almost salivating about our non-existent sev-tax. Negotiate: HELL! Somebody better follow ALL the money.

Taxes are really interesting. The larger group can in principle tax the pants off any one person, except for "equal justice under law." An "equity" consideration. Who would want a special tax, say 5%, on his particular vocational income -- plumbers (greedy rascals), lawyers (no comment -- I'm not one), or doctors (nor that), after which he'd pay income tax on the rest? Not me. That hasn't historically been done, and I think wouldn't be allowed by the courts today. But excise taxes on production and sale of anything are allowed. Why not a 2% excise tax on farm produce? I think that would make the land-owner a sharecropper to the State, which would be wrong. The State already levies an income tax.

I see no difference between that and a mineral severance tax, except to pay for regulatory costs to protect everyone else from such side effects of mineral production as briny streams if brine were dumped, or leachings from lead ore tailings. The landowner owns the minerals or he does not. The farmer owns his produce or he does not. Both pay income tax on the money they "make" each year. And the minerals don't grow back like crops do. Apart from luxury or "sin" taxes like are applied to alcohol and tobacco, it's my opinion that excise taxes in practice (note this carefully) are used for specific purposes. Tire taxes for roads, etc.

Most of what I'm hearing amounts to saying one particular group deserves to pay more taxes than another. I'm not sure which of my morality teachers would have agreed to that. They might have pointed to a book I've seen that says you shouldn't just take stuff from folks because you can, no matter how much they have.

A double tax one particular industry or group (income tax on what's left after the excise or "severance" tax seems double to me) for general revenue purposes, or any special purpose unrelated to the group, seems unjust. The perpetual tax on surface real estate has the side effect of forcing it toward uses which can support the tax. This is used to justify this form of taxation. Such taxation has also been used to break farms up into housing - urban "development." No such push toward "highest and best" uses (generally the most profitable, and arguments about "best" would last a _long_ time) seems to apply to "severance taxes."

There is a severance tax on timber. I only agree with it from the regulatory side. It appears to amount to under 1/4% at present. Timber products are hauled all over the roads, but truck and fuel taxes pay for the damage (or are supposed to). Natural gas doesn't get trucked anywhere, but is being asked to pay for everyone else's roads. I don't see justice there. The increased income of mineral owners and production companies will cause them to pay income tax. Why isn't that enough after the oil and gas commission costs are paid? The 7% number being bandied about now as a severance tax somehow ought to be held up against a 1/4% number for timber and a zero percent number for cropland. It amounts to more than half of the average royalty paid to the natural gas mineral owner. Does the State have a reasonable claim to so large a fraction of _your_ property? (Just so you know, I may eventually get some royalty income land from my parents bought, but I don't have any yet.)

inherited mineral rights from a great aunt in the 1960's. The gas company I signed with will NOT be paying the serverance tax...I WILL. I am paying it now and I will pay any increases. It is I and my husband you will be taxing. I also pay federal income tax on this money, I pay state income tax and ad valorm tax. How many taxes will you put on my back? (Yes, I read...Nelson doesn't believe I or my husband count. We are unimportant just because we have a few acres of mineral rights.)

"Don't you wish a consumer could have a seat when the gas companies meet with elected officials? Silly me." by Max Brantley

Don't you wish a mineral right owner could have a seat when the gas companies meet with elected officials? Since we are the local citizens who are impacted the most....Silly me!!!

In your rush to tax the "bad ole gas companies" you are going to tax your neighbors who have no way of passing along this tax burden as do gas companies who will only increase the cost of the gas they sell to you.

Does anyone truly believe that the end user doesn't end up paying for all taxes all companies are given? Do you really believe the tax on products is not passed on to us?

Taxes go to the government. The companies raise their prices. We pay.