Kentucky’s coal severance tax is a levy on coal producers enacted to make up for the loss of the coal fields’ main asset and meant to compensate for the environmental, social and economic impacts on the coal-producing areas. It also has as an aim diversification of the area’s economy against the day when coal is no longer king.
But there were others who’ve had their eyes on this prize. This golden goose did not escape notice by the state assembly, and as it is controlled by areas outside of the state’s coalfields, that tax money has been seized upon by the legislature and governors and a lot of it has been put to work in areas other than the coalfields.
According to the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, by 1992, coal severance tax had produced $2.7 billion. Of that prodigious sum, the coal producing counties got back a grand total of 7.6%. To add insult to injury, the state got the final say on how the coal-producing counties could spend their severance tax money.
Recently an incredible idea has been floated around the state. It is an idea that would help fulfill the promise made by those who enacted the coal severance tax; to help diversify our local economies. Yes, it will take coal severance tax away from other projects in other areas of the state. But then again, the state has been promising this area more of that tax money back.
This idea-the brain child of UPike President Paul Patton-that has been whole heartedly endorsed by leaders throughout our area, is to establish UPike as a state-supported school. Now when you stand up in this area and declare that this is not being done before it was needed, you, of course, would be preaching to the choir.
It’s when you hear the reaction from outside our area that you noticed a bit of negativity. Morehead State, for instance, the state supported school that is closest to UPike, would be affected and its President is already on record as saying that such a move should require a study. An editorial in the Louisville paper, The Courier Journal, is also on record supporting a study to see what impact the newest state supported college would have on the existing schools.
President Patton, in an op-ed in the Courier-Journal, in my humble opinion, ably refuted the argument that a study is needed in order to justify establishing the University of Pikeville as a state supported institution.
Patton points out that there is ample evidence supporting the establishment of a state supported school in Pike County. Patton points out that the state overall has almost twice as many college graduates aged 22-44 (17.1%) as the 12 major coal-producing counties (9.1%).
When this comparison is made between the proposed home county of a state-supported UPike and counties that already have a state supported school, the number of college graduates, ages 22-44, ranges from 24.7% (Warren Co. and WKU) to 21.9% (Rowan Co. and Morehead) to a mere 9.9% for Pike County and UPike.
President Patton quotes State Rep. Greg Stumbo who called a state-supported UPike “a no brainer.” Patton further states that “This action would be the most important improvement in Eastern Kentucky since the construction of the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway.”
No comments:
Post a Comment