Lycoming County's preparedness to handle the gas drilling impact fee distribution paid handsome dividends last week.
The county is receiving $4,025,904 in the state's first distribution of the new gas drilling impact fees.
That number remains unchanged, but a review committee set up by the county to handle distribution of the money to municipalities found discrepancies in the amounts allocated for many of the county's cities, townships and boroughs, and officially contacted the state Public Utility Commission about the errors.
Based on well locations and other criteria, the amounts allocated to many municipalities were adjusted up or down.
Most notably, Williamsport, projected to receive $260,000, will be instead receiving $560,000, as originally estimated by the county, based on the PUC's formula.
Other municipalities also will be receiving increases, while some had their fees cutback based on the PUC's formula.
The key is that the state of Pennsylvania has a formula and the county is prepared to give input on the formula.
The other key is that the funds be correctly distributed the first time.
There will be many more reviews in future years and this will be the precedent-setting template for those reviews.
We're sure the adjustments aren't popular in the municipalities where they were reduced. But the idea is to have a formula and then stand by that formula as the objective measure of what a municipality should receive from the gas drilling impact fees.
That much appears to have been done.
