Laserfiche WebLink
<br />• 8.13.4.2 Federal Mineral Lease Royalties <br />The proposed project would generate substantial mineral lease royalties for a variety <br />of local, state, and federal government entities. Based on preliminary estimates, <br />American Soda would generate approximately $4.2 million in royalties annually. <br />Half of this revenue would be paid to the federal government, while the other half <br />would be paid to the State of Colorado and distributed according to a complex <br />formula to various state and local government entities, including Rio Blanco and <br />Garfield Counties, individual municipalities within those counties, the State School <br />Fund, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, and the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board. Within each county, federal mineral royalty payments are <br />divided among the county governments, local school districts, and local <br />municipalities. <br />8.13.4.3 Sales and Use Tax Revenue <br />Sales taxes are paid by mining operations when purchases of equipment, materials, <br />or supplies are made in the local area. Examples of purchases that generate sales tax <br />revenue include gravel, pipe, fuel, and other supplies purchased locally. The project <br />would result in additional indirect payment of safes taxes due to purchasing activity <br />by employees, who will spend their earnings on a wide variety of goods and services <br />• provided by businesses in local communities. <br />Since Rio Blanco County and western Garfield County have been designated by the <br />State of Colorado as Enterprise Zones, American Soda would be exempt from paying <br />the state portion of the sales tax for certain purchases of equipment used directly i n <br />the mining process. The Enterprise Zone status generally does not exempt <br />American Soda from paying the local portion of the sales tax rate, however. <br />Use tax is collected by Rio Blanco County on materials purchased outside the county <br />(e.g., materials delivered from outside the county to mine sites in Rio Blanco <br />County) where no local sales tax was collected. Rio Blanco County charges a 2 <br />percent use tax on these materials. There is no use tax levied in unincorporated <br />Garfield County. <br />Like property tax revenues, sales and use tax revenues are used by local cities and <br />counties to fund a wide variety of important local services and community facilities. <br />To the extent that American Soda's purchasing activities within and outside of Rio <br />Blanco and Garfield Counties generate sales and use tax revenues, the project would <br />benefit local residents through increased funding of these local services. <br />8.13.4.4 Severance Tax <br />As described in Section 7.14.4.4, the State of Colorado levies a severance tax against <br />the proceeds of the sale of various minerals produced in the state. In 1997, total <br />American Soda, L.L.P. 8_40 <br />Commercial Mine Plan <br />Augur[ 18, 1998 <br />