By STEVEN ALLEN ADAMS
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
(News and Sentinel photo by Steven Allen Adams)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A coal mining lobbyist group is asking for a lower severance tax rate for coal, while two organizations representing natural gas interests are asking to keep their severance tax rates the same.
The Legislature’s joint standing committees on energy and finance heard from representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association, the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association and the Independent Oil and Gas Association during interim meetings Monday in Charleston.
The taxing of oil, natural gas and coal severance goes back almost 100 years with the first coal mining severance taxed at .4 percent in 1921. Today, coal production and processing are taxed at 4.65 percent, with an additional .35 percent for local coal severance taxes.
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