Sales Tax Revenues Higher in Ohio Shale Counties

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Sales tax revenues in eight core oil and gas producing counties in Ohio’s Utica shale increased 15% higher than the other 80 counties between 2012 and 2016, according to a report compiled by Energy In Depth.

Belmont, Monroe, Guernsey, Harrison, Carroll, Columbiana, Jefferson, and Noble counties together posted a 45% gain during those five years versus the average 30% increase the others experienced, the organization said.

Since 2012, the oil and gas industry has pumped more than $50 billion into Ohio in the form of drilling, midstream development and end users such as manufacturing plants, energy plants and natural gas liquids storage, said Jackie Stewart, senior director, energy & natural resources.

All eight counties have enjoyed a rise in sales tax revenues since oil and gas exploration began in earnest in the Utica shale. Harrison County, for example, averaged sales tax revenues of $1.3 million a year between 2007 and 2011. Between 2012 and 2016, when exploration as well as midstream development materialized, sales tax revenues increased to an average $4.2 million per year, or a boost of 215%

In Monroe County, which boasts some of the most productive dry-gas wells in the Utica, sales tax revenue rose an average 130% during the period. Between 2007 and 2011, the county took in an average of $1.4 million in sales tax revenues a year; between 2012 and 2016, that number jumped to an average of $3.4 million.

Columbiana County has also seen a gradual increase in sales tax revenues, according to the data. In the five years before shale development, sales tax revenues stood at an average of $12.2 million. Between 2012 and 2016, average sales tax revenues increased to $15.9 million a year.

These increases affect the entire state, Stewart said, because the majority of revenues go into Ohio’s general fund.

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