CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Property taxes on the production of oil and natural gas will provide county governments in West Virginia with more than $96 million, which will go toward funding local school systems and other community services.
The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association cheered the findings in a press release Monday, noting the information was from the state Division of Tax and Revenue.
“Although the amount of property taxes may fluctuate year over year due to many factors including commodity prices, West Virginia producing counties continue to receive significant funds generated from the development of our oil and gas resources,” executive director Anne Blankenship said.
The top five counties for 2017 were Wetzel, Doddridge, Marshall, Harrison and Ohio counties. Gas-producing counties also receive funds from property taxes on other industry segments such as pipelines and extraction.
Tax assessments are based on the production and pricing of resources from the tax year two years prior to the current year. In the case of the 2017 assessments, the pricing levels were set in 2015.