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i Coal industry expressF~s Btu tax concern ByJENNYJOIINSON economies of northwest Colorado Put Usilton says if increased taxes Staff writer and the rate payers throughout the are deemed necessary, they should The energy tax proposed by the state; he said. be placed on the utility (post electri- Clinton edminietration would The proposed broad-based energy cal generation) rather than produc- edveraely impact the number of tax would increase tax on the pro- ere so that it ie more directly paid for jobs in the cost industry and would duction o[ coal at the rate of $.257 by consumers and eliminate the dou- be detrimental to Colorado mining, per million Btu's (a measurement of ble jeopardy of additional royalty said R. D. Usilton, president of tlreamountofenergyreleased). paid on the energy tax. Colowyo Coal Company, the etate'e The Clinton administration says When applied to 10,700 Btu of largest coal mine. the increase in tax imposed at the ~ coed, the tax equates to $5.50 per °Our concern is based on the belief production phase will encourage ton. If the coal ie under federal that any new tax added to the price conservation by making energy lease, another $.79 in royalties of coal hurts the entire industry, the more expensive. would be added making a total of ~ $6.29 per ton. iJeilton said when today's average .price is $15 per ton, it is doubtful that all of the burden could be parsed on to consumers. In an effort to ,gain a competitive edge in the bid- durg process, producers would paz- tielly absorb some of the increased far; be said Already, the coal industry is ehvg- gli.ng with a nearly 40 percent decease in coal prices end a lose of almost half of its jobs i^ the last decade. Another tax burden would add another setback to a severely depressed industry, he said. IJeilton said the additional imxeeaed taxes would also increase Colowyo's supply costa by about $500,000 per year since their Isrge draglines are powered by electricity end trucks by diesel fuel. ]Local economies of northwest Colorado rely on the coal industry far a significant proportion of the job base es well as the 5nanael support through taxes paid by coal compa- nies, said Usilton. Colawyo alone employs 415 work- ers who are paid wages and benefits totalling over $24 million per year. ' ' At s time when high paying, sta- ble manufacturing and production jobs are becoming more and more ecarre in this country, ie questionable to adopt a proposed tax which threat- ens the existence of these jobs," be said. °1'his tax would certainly not put Coloradans back to work.° In 1992, the company paid over $39 million in taxes, tees and royal- ties to gavemment. If the proposed taxes were incurred, Colowyo's taxes and royalties would increase by an additional $29 million, says Usilton. Last yeaz, Colowyo produced and sold over 4.6 million tons of high Btu coal and is 44 percent below the Clean Air Act's mandated level of sulfur diaade.