Butler County Government Center. Butler Eagle file photo

Infrastructure and park projects across the county are being funded this year with Act 13 natural gas well impact fee distributions driven by record high gas prices and an increase in the number of wells last year.

In addition to an increase in the county's well count from 563 in 2021 to 594 last year, the price of gas rose from $3.84 per unit to $6.64, the highest price since the state began assessing fees on producers in 2011, according to the Public Utility Commission, which collects and distributes the money.

Based on the 2022 well count and gas prices, the county will receive a little over $3 million, and the 57 municipalities in the county will receive a total of nearly $5 million, the Marcellus Shale Coalition announced last month.

In 2022, the county received $2.4 million and the municipalities received about $4 million, which was based on the 2021 well count and gas price.

Statewide, this year's Act 13 distributions totaled $278 million — a $44 million increase over last year.

“2022 saw the highest level of prices, so the impact fees collected from producers was at the highest level,” said David Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry advocate.

The second highest gas price since Act 13 was passed was $4.42 per unit in 2014, according to the PUC.

Four years ago, the county commissioners created the infrastructure bank to share the county's Act 13 distribution with municipalities. The commissioners have leveraged the county's distribution to provide $53.3 million over those four years to municipalities for infrastructure and park projects.

This year, the commissioners used the county distribution to borrow $13.1 million through a 10-year bond issue to provide low 2.73% interest loans to four municipalities and the Western Butler County Authority for infrastructure projects.

“To me that's what Act 13 was intended to do,” said Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the commissioners, about the infrastructure projects. “We kept to the spirit of what Act 13 is.”

Evans City received a $550,000 infrastructure bank loan for a $644,045 stormwater improvement project. Harmony received a $500,000 loan for $819,950 stormwater improvement projects.

Jackson Township received a $465,000 loan for a $973,579 road reconstruction and water line extension projects. Oakland Township received a $300,000 loan for a $893,496 road reconstruction project.

The WBCA received an $11.3 million loan to cover the entire cost of expanding its Route 19 South service area, including the acquisition of the existing sewage treatment plant in Abbey Woods in Zelienople and converting it to a pump station and a stormwater management facility.

In addition, the commissioners approved agreements to pay two utilities a total of about $1.3 million to relocate service lines for the Gateway 228 project at Freedom Road in Cranberry Township. The county will pay Columbia Gas $1.2 million and pay Consolidated Communications $119,713.

Osche said small municipalities don’t have the borrowing power that the county has and can’t afford to pay for large infrastructure projects without the infrastructure bank.

“It’s directly impacting our municipalities large and small,” Commissioner Kevin Boozel said about the infrastructure bank. “It’s great for the quality of life in Butler County.”

He said the commissioners allocate the county’s Act 13 distribution in accordance with a resolution they adopted in 2021 that directs the first 35% to technology and capital improvements, the next 55% to the infrastructure bank and the final 10% to a discretionary fund.

This year, those allocations were $983,171 for technology and capital improvements, $1.5 million for the infrastructure bank and $280,906 to the discretionary fund, Boozel said.

The county’s distribution also includes $231,000 from the Act 13 legacy fund for parks and greenway projects, he said.

From that the legacy fund, about $115,000 will go to the parks and recreation department for in-county park projects, $57,976 will be given to the agricultural land preservation board for the farmland preservation program and another $57,976 will go to the county conservation district for soil and erosion projects, said Commissioner Kim Geyer.

The state provides a 1-to-6 match of the county’s farmland preservation funding that the county has used over the years to protect 72 farms covering 7,500 acres from future development, she said.

“For every dollar we invest, the state gives us six,” Geyer said. “This allows us to be more aggressive and be a leader in farmland preservation in Western Pennsylvania.”

Of the nearly $5 million in Act 13 money going directly to municipalities, the $338,979 going to Winfield Township is the highest.

Matt Klabnik, chairman of the township supervisors, said the township is combining its Act 13 money with a state grant to upgrade the traffic signals at the intersection of Route 356 and Winfield Road next year.

He said the township has a good working relationship with Penn Energy, which has wells in the township.

“Penn Energy is very good about analyzing the road condition before they use it, and paving and upgrading it to handle their use,” Klabnik said. He estimated that the company has spent at least $2 million on road improvements.

The township has a nonsurface drilling lease with Penn Energy to extract gas from the ground under Winfield Township Community Park, Klabnik said. The company pays the township $400,000 to $500,000 a year in royalty payments that are being used to develop a park improvement plan.

“We'll use that and grant money to build out our park,” Klabnik said.