八个州地方财政对于石油天然气发展的影响Local fiscal effects of oil and gas development in eight states in 2016

在过去的几十年中，美国的油气产量增长迅速，这在很大程度上是由于页岩资源的开发。地方政府以各种方式受到油气开发的影响，包括对收入和服务需求的影响。在本报告中，我们以先前的研究为基础，考察了八个油气生产量大的州的另外14个地区：阿拉斯加，加利福尼亚，堪萨斯州，新墨西哥州，俄亥俄州，俄克拉荷马州，犹他州和西弗吉尼亚州。这些地区中的一些地区最近油气活动大幅增加，而其他地区则没有。我们描述了主要的收入来源，主要的服务需求（即成本）以及每个地区县市的净财政影响。先前的研究（Newell＆Raimi 2015b，a）研究了八个不同州的12个地区：阿肯色州，科罗拉多州，路易斯安那州，蒙大拿州，北达科他州，宾夕法尼亚州，德克萨斯州和怀俄明州。 我们发现，地方政府的净财政效应差异很大，大多数地方政府都从该行业中获得净财政收益（见表1）。但是，地方因素和州级政策可以发挥重要作用，而且各个州的一些地方政府都经历了与油气活动相关的净成本。正如我们在堪萨斯州，新墨西哥州，俄克拉荷马州和犹他州的部分地区发现的那样，高度农村地区的大规模，快速的油气开发可能会对地方政府的财政产生负面影响，这可能难以跟上道路维修，紧急情况和交通事故的需求。执法服务以及与雇用新员工和保留现有员工相关的各种费用。如果地方收入来源或州政府的拨款不足以管理这些新成本，则地方政府将承受净财政成本，服务或基础设施可能会恶化。诸如地理，人口统计学和现有基础设施之类的当地因素，在确定石油和天然气活动迅速扩大的地区对地方政府的净财政影响方面，都可以发挥重要作用。例如，在犹他州东部的因达湖盆地的两个县由于与生产相关的大量新收入，因此与该行业相关的财务收益可观。但是，相邻的第三个县的石油和天然气产量很少，导致收入有限，并且由于该县的石油和天然气车辆交通大量增加，因此它无法满足道路维修的需求。 在阿拉斯加各地以及加利福尼亚，堪萨斯州，新墨西哥州和俄克拉荷马州的部分地区，近年来石油和天然气的长期生产一直在下降，因此出现了一系列明显的问题。一般而言，这些地区的地方政府可享受到巨大的财政利益，这是由于石油和天然气资产以及石油和天然气劳动力推动了庞大（尽管正在下降）的税基。对于这些地区的地方政府而言，主要关注的是公共收入的多样化，这通常与地区经济多样化的挑战有关。随着石油和天然气活动的放缓以及相关税基的侵蚀，地方领导人正试图增加多样化以支持其社区和公共库房。随着2014年末开始的石油价格急剧下跌并一直持续到撰写本文之时，这一挑战的重要性可能会增加。

Oil and gas production has grown rapidly in the United States over the past decades, in large part due to the development of shale resources. Local governments are affected by oil and gas development in a variety of ways, including impacts to revenues and demand for services. In this report, we build on our previous research by examining 14 additional regions across eight states with substantial oil and gas production: Alaska, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia. Some of these regions have recently experienced substantial increases in oil and gas activity, while others have not. We describe the major revenue sources, the major demands for services (i.e., costs), and the net fiscal impacts for counties and municipalities in each region. Previous research (Newell & Raimi 2015b, a) examined 12 regions in eight different states: Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming.

We find wide variation in the net fiscal effects for local governments, with most local governments experiencing net fiscal benefits from the industry (See Table 1). However, local factors and state-level policies can play an important role, and some local governments in a variety of states have experienced net costs associated with oil and gas activity. As we found in parts of Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah, large-scale and rapid oil and gas development in highly rural regions can negatively affect local government finances, which may struggle to keep up with demands for road repair, emergency and law enforcement services, and a variety of costs associated with hiring new and retaining existing staff. If local revenue sources or allocations from the state government are not sufficient to manage these new costs, local governments will experience net fiscal costs and services or infrastructure may deteriorate.

Local factors such as geography, demographics, and pre-existing infrastructure can each play important roles in determining the net fiscal impacts for local governments in regions with rapidly expanding oil and gas activity. For example, two counties in eastern Utah’s Uintah basin have 

experienced substantial fiscal benefits associated with the industry due to large new revenues associated with production. But a neighboring third county has little oil and gas production leading to limited revenues and, because oil and gas vehicle traffic has increased substantially in this county, it has not been able to keep up with demand for road repair.

Throughout Alaska, and in parts of California, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, where longstanding oil and gas production has been declining in recent years, a distinct set of issues tends to arise. Generally speaking, local governments in these regions experience substantial fiscal benefits due to a large, though declining, tax base driven by oil and gas property and the oil and gas workforce. For local governments in these regions, a key concern is diversification of public revenues, which is often related to the challenge of diversifying the regional economy. As oil and gas activity slows and the associated tax base erodes, local leaders are trying to increase diversification to support their communities and public coffers. The salience of this challenge will likely grow with the sharp drop in oil prices that began in late 2014 and persists through the time of this writing.