Fallowfield sees drop in impact fee cash

Fallowfield Township will receive nearly $130,000 less than last year from the state’s natural gas impact fees.

Fallowfield Township saw a drop in its share of Act 13 funds from the state’s natural gas impact fee.

On Wednesday, Fallowfield Township supervisors passed a resolution to approve supplemental appropriation for those funds because it had expected to receive more than what was funneled through.

Township Secretary Karen Talbert said the township is required to pass a similar resolution each year, but because the township budgeted more than what will be received, they would have to make that change by resolution.

“This year we budgeted $320,000 for Act 13 but we only will receive $189,216,” she said. “It was significantly less.”

It’s a $129,710 difference in their distribution compared to what they received in 2023.

Fallowfield isn’t alone. In June, Mon Valley communities and hundreds of others across the state learned they would receive less money than anticipated from the state’s natural gas impact fee.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission collected $179.6 million from the Act 13 gas well impact fee levied on production in 2023, about $100 million less than it received in 2022.

The decrease in revenue collected from the impact fee is a result of drop in natural gas prices in 2023, which fell to $2.74 per metric million Btu compared to $6.64 metric million Btu in 2022.

There were 423 new wells drilled in the state last year, which also could be attributed to the decrease because the impact fee also is based on how many wells are drilled and the age of the wells.

All counties in Pennsylvania receive a percentage of the revenue from the gas impact fee, but counties and municipalities where drilling occurs receive more to compensate for the wear and tear on roads and infrastructure used by trucks involved in the operations.

Communities typically use the funds for road repairs, maintenance, emergency services and other big ticket items.

County and municipal governments directly affected by drilling will receive a total of $100,302,825 for the 2023 reporting year, with $63,791,090 transferred to the Marcellus Legacy Fund, which provides financial support for environmental, highway, water and sewer projects, rehabilitation of greenways and other projects throughout the state.

While Fallowfield Township doesn’t have projects earmarked for Act 13 funds, which do have stipulations on how money can be spent, it’s important funding to ensure projects come to fruition without dipping into the township’s general fund.

“It is a big deficit from what we were expecting,” Supervisor Joe Sopchak said.

Ongoing projects the township could use those funds for include ongoing repairs to Fox Stop bridge and a stormwater project on Wesley Avenue.

Work on Fox Stop is expected to be complete within the next few weeks as work was delayed.

An additional $17,179 will also be paid as a partial payment to crews finalizing work on Fox Stop through Act 13 funds.

The storm water project, which will cost round $174,000, is still ongoing and will also be paid for out of the Act 13 account, which accrues money year to year and does not have a time limit on when it has to be spent.

In other business:

• Supervisors agreed to hire a janitorial worker at a rate of $25 per clean for Elementary Park on an as needed basis.

• Will pay $1,188 for additional firewall hardware for the township’s updated cyber security system.