Governor wants to raise taxes on oil, gas production

COLUMBUS — Gov. John Kasich isn't giving up on his efforts to raise taxes on oil and gas production in Ohio.He predicted that if lawmakers once again reject the proposal, as they have in recent years, it likely will end up as a state question for voters to decide."Somebody's going to put it on the ballot," the governor predicted. "If I'm a young, enterprising politician, I want this fight, me versus Big Oil."The oil and gas tax hike is part of his budget proposal for changes in Ohio's tax structure. The governor also wants state lawmakers to reduce the number of income tax brackets from nine to five and to cut the rates, to raise the state sales tax by half a penny and to extend the sales tax to certain services.The governor says that raising oil and gas taxes would make it easier to lower income taxes.He told reporters at a forum last week sponsored by the Associated Press that is is "outrageous" for oil and gas companies to make money, and Ohioans get nothing.The governor has tried to raise oil and gas production taxes in past sessions of the Ohio General Assembly, however, but has come away with nothing but a dry hole.He may not enjoy much success in 2017, either. State Rep. Ryan Smith, R-Bidwell, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, told reporters at the AP forum that while the GOP House caucus has not had a chance to review the governor's proposals, he doubted the oil and gas tax hike would go over."The severance tax situation is not something that is very palatable to our caucus," Smith said. "Everything else is open for discussion."A document released by the governor's office says that Ohio currently has about 1,500 wells producing oil and gas, and that Ohio's current severance tax on is 20 cents for a barrel of oil and 3 cents per MCF (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas.The document argues that raising the tax isn't unreasonable."The governor proposes fixed rates for crude oil and natural gas of 6.5 percent when sold at the wellhead, and a lower rate of 4.5 percent for natural gas and natural gas liquids when sold at later stages of distribution. These rates are lower than those levied by other major state producers, such as Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota, and will place Ohio squarely in the middle of the pack of all state rates," it says.In the past, however, Republican state lawmakers have argued that raising taxes might inhibit the current petroleum boom in Ohio."I don't think it's going to get done this time, but that's OK," Kasich said. "We'll keep at it."FILE â€" In this Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, Ohio Gov. John Kasich answers questions from reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington. Kasich and other statewide leaders spoke at a forum sponsored by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)