Ohio drillers say 6 shale counties saw $43M tax bump

COLUMBUS (AP) — Oil-and-gas drillers in Ohio say they’ve paid $43 million in property taxes to local governments and schools in six shale counties since 2011.

The finding issued today by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Energy In Depth Ohio, a natural-gas research group, comes as Republican Gov. John Kasich has renewed calls for a severance-tax increase on the industry.

Kasich’s proposed two-year, $66.9 billion operating budget raises $448 million from the severance-tax increase. The increase would combine with other tax reforms to pay for a net statewide income-tax reduction of $39 million.

The report shows Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Noble, Monroe and Guernsey counties have seen a combined 22 percent revenue boost from the long-standing ad valorem property tax, amid a 35-fold increase in natural-gas production.