WSP03702 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ANAL YS IS 49 needed to finance capital facilities at all three levels of local govern- ment--school districts, counties and municipalities. In the case of school districts and counties, the need for additional capital is likely to be of short duration and there will be an adequate tax base to repay state fund- ing over a longer period of time. However, at the municipal level, a com- bination of loans and grants is more appropriate. The creation of a state Energy Impact Assistance Fund is a method to ac- commodate this need for additional funds at the local level. Such a fund could provide various forms of interim front-end financing, on a timely basis, to energy-impacted areas within the state. The basic philosophy of the Governor's Advisory Committee is that state funding should be made on a repayment basis; but it also recognizes that, in some circumstances, re- payment may not be feasible. Therefore, some loans may have to contain a forgiveness clause, or funds will need to be distributed in the form of a grant. Major potential sources of monies that could be used for an impact fund are: (1) Royalty payments to the state from the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-377). (2) Monies in the state Oil Shale Lease Fund (also known as Oil Shale Trust Fund). (3) Interest from the monies in the state Oil Shale Lease Fund. (4) Proceeds from a coal and uranium severance tax. (5) Federal aid included as part of a synthetic fuel bill. (6) Appropriations from the state legislature. (7) Issuance of bonds or borrowing from the Bureau of Land Manage- ment, Department of the Interior. Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975. Until it was amended in Au- gust of this year, states received 37.5 percent of generated revenues under 0417 '