Butler County receives state’s 7th-highest amount of Act 13 funding
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced on Tuesday, June 24, that Butler County will receive $1,619,230 from unconventional natural gas well impact fees for the 2024 reporting year, out of $164,592,500 distributed to counties and municipalities across Pennsylvania.
Butler County’s portion of the distribution is the seventh-highest of the 67 counties in state, trailing only Washington, Susquehanna, Bradford, Greene, Lycoming and Tioga.
“I am glad to see so many communities benefiting from natural gas drilling,” said state Rep. Tim Bonner, R-17th. “These revenues are strengthening local economies, enabling important public projects and delivering lasting benefits to Mercer and Butler counties.”
“The Impact Fee supports not only essential local projects but also a broad range of vital environmental initiatives across the state,” said state Rep. Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th. “The natural gas industry is a valuable contributor to our economy, driving job creation and supporting the growth of other industries.”
The statewide distribution for the 2024 reporting year is a decrease from the $179,634,750 that was awarded for the 2023 reporting year. The Public Utility Commission attributes the decrease to a decrease in new wells (from 421 in 2023 to 321 on 2024), along with flat natural gas prices.
In addition, according to the terms of Act 13, the fees generated by each individual well decrease over the years, until 15 years after the well is dug, at which point it is no longer subject to fees. The fee amount is also dependent on the price of natural gas.
“There’s been a lack of gas prices, so people quit drilling,” said Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel. “And the amount that they’re pumping out isn’t great due to supply and demand. They can’t pump it all out and lose money.”
Butler County’s own distribution also saw a year-over-year drop, from $1,824,523.26 in 2023.
Separate blocks of Act 13 gas well funding are delivered to Butler County, and to individual municipalities contained within it, respectively.
According to the text of Act 13, which was enacted in 2012, the money is allocated by dividing the amount of eligible wells in the county by the number of wells in Pennsylvania, and multiplying the resulting percentage by the total amount of funds available for distribution. For Butler County, this funding totals $1,488,873.38.
Counties are restricted as to what these funds can be used for.
“They could be used for roads, bridges, stormwater, sewer infrastructure, public safety, parks, trails, and greenways,” said Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer. “We have, in the past, dedicated our funding toward our 911 radios for emergency services and our technology infrastructure investments.”
A separate block of county funding, which amounts to $130,356.62, is distributed from the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund, and can be used for certain environmental conservation, rehabilitation, or restoration projects. The amount of this distribution is determined by dividing the population of the county by the population of Pennsylvania, and multiplying the resulting percentage by the amount of funds available.
According to Boozel, Butler County mainly uses these funds to assist in obtaining other environmental grants from the state and federal government which require a matching amount.
“We use those dollars to leverage other grants that exceed our weight limit,” Boozel said. “It's been an advantage for Butler County to have that money to push toward additional state or federal grants for municipal parks.”
Funding to individual municipalities is based on a complex formula which takes into account the population, the number of eligible unconventional gas wells within each municipality, as well as the number of wells located within five miles of the municipality.
As a result, Winfield Township grabbed the highest share in the county, with $173,673.61, on the strength of 62 eligible wells. Township Supervisor Matthew Klabnik says that Act 13 funding has been a major part of Winfield Township’s revenue since it was first introduced in 2012.
“It has enabled us to invest a lot more into infrastructure,” Klabnik said. “We’ve used it for road paving. We just wrote a large check for a traffic light (at the intersection of Route 356 and Winfield Road). That came out of the Act 13 money.”
Cranberry Township received $145,733.80 despite not having a single eligible well head within its borders. A large number of wells in neighboring townships, including Jackson Township, were factored into the calculation, along with its Cranberry’s population of 33,096.
“We use those funds generally toward infrastructure projects, like roads and stormwater,” said township manger Dan Santoro. “On the public safety side, it helps in outfitting the police department.”
