ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270033
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARNEY REILLY
IT APPEARS that Virginia coal operators have again flexed their muscle with our General Assembly and received a passkey to the side door of the state treasury.
We expected more mining jobs when remining was being talked about, and more jobs still when thin-seam mining was the main topic of discussion. Instead, we find that all the talk was just to get bigger tax credits. No jobs can be expected.
I wrote to Gov. George Allen recently about the legislation granting tax credits to owners of thin coal seams. So far, no reply has come back.
I understand that coal owners already ``own'' the tax credits. When they mine the thin seams, they can claim 100 percent of the credit. If they decide not to mine (which I expect will be the case), they can claim 90 percent of the tax credit, and the other 10 percent goes to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. Either way, the Virginia treasury is getting drained, and no upper limit for these tax breaks has been set.
Virginia must rely on coal owners to tell them the thickness of their seams and the amount of coal they contain. The owners not only get the tax credit, but still own the coal. A lot of money will change hands, but there will be no work for those miners looking for jobs.
The original intent of the legislation was to make thin coal seams more valuable so they could be sold or traded along with their tax credit. However, things got changed here and there, as they normally do during General Assembly sessions, and our senators and delegates were quick to sweeten and expand the provisions of the bill.
Our Dickenson County budget is strained to the breaking point, and many programs will have to be reduced or stopped altogether. Folks requiring assistance from Social Services will soon be tightening their belts.
But corporate welfare is alive and well - and there seems to be no shortage of funds to support it.
Corporate welfare usually comes from local, state or federal tax breaks, and the Virginia tax credit for thin-seam coal is a prime example. It's coming right out of our hip pockets, going directly to the coal owners, and no jobs or severance tax are in sight!
We ought to let our General Assembly members know what we think of this giveaway.
Barney Reilly of Clinchco is president of the Dickenson County Citizens Committee.
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