Proposed Pa. tax break worth $67M per year

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa.

Gov. Tom Corbett, who has been criticized for cutting state spending for schools and social services, is advocating future tax credits worth as much as $67 million a year for a petrochemical refinery planned by Shell Oil Co. in western Pennsylvania to capitalize on booming natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region.

The Corbett administration is seeking legislative approval now to demonstrate its willingness to share the costs of the multibillion-dollar project, even though the credits would not become available until 2017.

The credit would be worth nearly $1.7 billion over the 25 years they would remain in place.

“It’s a competitive climate out there,” said Steve Kratz, a spokesman for the Department of Community and Economic Development. “This is about reindustrializing the state.”

Corbett has not publicly discussed the proposed tax break. But Kratz on Monday confirmed information first reported by the online news service Capitolwire.