skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 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.

Federal Coal Royalty Changes Would Bring More Money to MT

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 28, 2015   

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Federal royalties for coal on public land are getting a checkup. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue is considering changes, and a report released today by Headwaters Economics looks at what that might mean for Montana and other coal states.

Report author Mark Haggerty said the current system has loopholes that have meant about $850 million was not collected from 2008 to 2012. The report recommends that royalties be calculated based on market value instead of the mixture of valuations that exist now.

"That simplified structure creates transparency," Haggerty said. "it greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of administering the royalty program, and it ensures a fair return to taxpayers."

Haggerty said the reason this is so important is that coal markets have changed. U.S. coal now often is destined for overseas markets, and the original system was designed with domestic supply in mind - so keeping prices low would benefit the U.S. economy, not that of another country.

"Complicated" is how Haggerty described the coal royalty system.

Other considerations: When higher federal royalties are collected, it would mean less state revenues in certain taxes. So, the report delved into those consequences.

"The increase in royalty distributions from the federal government would exceed the lower state revenues that they would collect directly," Haggerty said. "So, states would benefit from higher royalties."

The changes also may include reducing coal companies' deduction for transportation costs - currently at 100 percent. A decision on changes in the royalty system is expected this spring.

The report is online at headwaterseconomics.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

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