skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Economic Report on Coal Royalties Exposes Loopholes

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 28, 2015   

CASPER, Wyo. - A report released today delves into the federal royalty system for coal mining on public land - and finds that the Office of Natural Resources Revenue is right in considering changes.

The Headwaters Economics calculations found that loopholes in the current system have meant about $850 million in royalty income was not collected from 2008 to 2012. Report author Mark Haggerty said the coal market also has changed.

"We might want to weigh higher royalty collections more heavily against wanting to provide cheap coal for market to Asia," he said.

Haggerty said federal coal leasing has several objectives, including a fair return for taxpayers, jobs and inexpensive domestic energy. A decision on changes in the royalty system is expected this spring.

Haggerty's report makes a recommendation for changing the royalty calculations as well as closing the biggest loophole, which allows brokers, sometimes affiliated with the mine owners, to sell the coal for a higher price without paying royalties.

"So, we think there's actually a more simple and elegant way to do it - move the point of royalty valuation from the mine to the market," he said.

The changes also may include reducing the deduction for transportation costs - currently at 100 percent. By comparison, oil and gas transportation deductions are at 50 percent. The federal royalties are split with states, so changes would mean more money for Wyoming, although the state also would see less money in severance and other taxes - but the report predicts the end result would be in the positive column for states.

The economic report is online at headwaterseconomics.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021