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<br />" <br /> <br />The key issue with respect to the availability of qeneral <br />tax monies for water project development is the intense <br />competition for scarce funds, especially since current <br />projections of general fund surpluses are much less than those <br />being made a year ago. The most recent estimates are as follows: <br /> <br />FY 82-83 <br />FY 83-84 <br />FY 84-85 <br />FY' 85-86 <br />FY 86-87 <br />FY 87-88 <br /> <br />$ <br />$ <br />$ <br />$ <br />$ <br />$ <br /> <br />'" <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />t) <br /><63,7...011...... <br />3" 20,4 ...,'t...(i~t...L -lin /--'''''' y.....) <br />" <br />'.:19 . 1 "'.Ji.....(.'"0I,,h.-. 30,",'" -(--ph.'.,.......) <br /> <br />Economic Rents. Charges for the use and exploitation of <br />publicly owned resources such as lands and minerals have long <br />been a source .of revenue for federal and state, governments. <br />Notable examples are gra~ing and timbering feas, oil and gas <br />royalties, severance taxes, and mineral leasing fees. <br />COllectively, these are referred to as economic rents. <br /> <br />,Pursuant to section 34-63-102, C.R.S. 1973, as amended, 10 <br />percent of the monies accruing to Colorado under the terms of the <br />federal rHneral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 have been paid annually <br />into the Colorado Water Conservation Board construction fund <br />since 1977. Through FY 81-82, the total amount received was <br />approximately $11 million. It is anticipated that future <br />payments to the construction fund will be about $2-2.5 million <br />par year given present levels of mineral development on federal <br />lands. <br /> <br />The other economic rent presently made available by statute <br />for the financing of water projects is Colorado's severance tax <br />on coal, oil and gas, molybdenum ore, oil shale, and metallic <br />minerals. Half of the receipts from severance taxes are credited <br />to a Severance tax trust fund, which fund: <br /> <br />. . . is to be perpetual and held in trust as <br />a replacement for depleted natural resources <br />and for the development and conservation of <br />the state's water resources pursuant to . . . <br />[the statutory provisions governing the <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />construction fund]. ... Repayment of <br />moneys . . . used for state water projects <br />shall be required . . . and moneys so repaid <br />shall be credited to the severance tax trust <br />fund. (Section 39-29-109, C.R.S. 1973, as <br />amended.. ) <br /> <br />The severance tax trust fund, which was created in 1977, <br />is proj ected to have a balance of about $47 million at the end of <br />FY 82-83 if no expenditures are made from the fund during the <br /> <br />-6- <br />