Roughly half of the municipalities in Washington County have taken action to protect the revenue stream flowing into local governments by way of natural gas development.

On Monday, Cecil Township became the most recent municipality to pass a resolution opposing any amendment to the state’s Act 13 that would reduce the amount of money townships receive from impact fees on unconventional gas wells. The resolution was recommended by the Washington County Association of Township Officials, and Cecil supervisors unanimously approved it after some discussion.

Board Chairman Andy Schrader said the township received a letter dated June 13 from the association, which called on Washington County townships to pass a statement of policy supporting the impact fees.

Cecil received nearly $284,000 in impact fees this year.

“We can’t afford for that to go away,” Cowden said.

Some fear the impact fees, established under Act 13 of 2012, could be eliminated if the political climate changes and a severance tax is written into law. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf has called for a 5 percent severance tax on the industry, according to his website.

Schrader was hesitant to approve the resolution because “there is no bill right now that says one way or another” whether the impact fees will remain. But he said, regardless, the impact fees benefit the township.

Doug King, president of the Washington County chapter of township officials, said the association feels a severance tax would eliminate or greatly diminish the impact fees.

“I think that if you get somebody in (office) that wants to do the severance tax, I think these counties that are affected are going to see a lot less money,” he said.

He said 16 municipalities in Washington County have not yet taken action on the association’s recommendation. Once townships mail in proof that they passed the resolution, those letters will be provided to the statewide organization, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. PSTATS also passed a similar resolution at its state convention in Hershey last spring.

King said the main goal is to raise awareness about the benefit of impact fees, which can be used for a host of community and improvement projects.

“The impact money in Washington and Greene counties has been … ,” he said, searching for an appropriate word. “It’s just been tremendous.”

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