natural gas

By Aldo Svaldi
The Denver Post

Colorado's enterprise-zone program has granted the majority of its tax credits in recent years to natural-resource companies and utilities operating in rural areas.

That has critics asking whether the state is using its limited economic-development ammunition to reward activities that would have happened anyway.

Issue brief takes a look at Colorado's severance tax in light of Amendment 58, a proposal to end a tax credit enjoyed by the industry and bring Colorado's rate in line with those of other top energy-producing states.

Release of issue brief by Joel Minor, Colorado's Severance Tax and Amendment 58, garners coverage in the Rocky Mountain News.

Release of issue brief by Joel Minor, Colorado's Severance Tax and Amendment 58, garners coverage in The Denver Post.

Blog posting to shine a light on amount spent to fight Amendment 58, in light of 98 percent increase in earnings by Berry Petroleum of Denver. Company contributed $65,000 to "No on 58" fight.

Letter to editor regarding truth winning out on Amendment 58, sent to dozens of papers statewide.

Wade Buchanan sent a letter to Rick Reiter, head of the "No on 58" campaign, urging him to halt "misleading" advertising about Amendment 58. This letter was basis for subsequent press release.

The Bell's report on severance taxes and Amendment 58 is cited in analysis of radio interview on KFKA. Summary: Amy Oliver of 1310 KFKA and the Independence Institute agreed with her guest, Duane Parde of the National Taxpayers Union, when he inaccurately asserted that under Amendment 58 Colorado would be "one of the highest-taxed states in the nation on its oil and its natural gas."

In spite of what oil and gas companies are saying, a ‘yes’ vote on Amendment 58 won’t mean higher prices at the gas pump. According to a report issued by the Bell Policy Center, an economic research organization in Denver, gas prices are not directly determined by severance tax rates. Amendment 58 seeks to eliminate a tax benefit historically handed to the oil and gas industries in Colorado in order to recoup $300 million per year for schools, transportation and natural resource projects.

The Bell Policy Center has called on Rick Reiter and the "No on 58" campaign to halt advertising that claims an increase in the severance tax rate will result in "passed through" costs on gasoline, groceries and heating bills. In a hand-delivered letter, Wade Buchanan, president of the Bell, tells Reiter that the television and radio ads are "wrong and misleading" and "amount to baseless scare tactics."