WHEELING - A report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy claims that coal mining cost the state's taxpayers $97.5 million in fiscal 2009.
However, with an estimated 21,012 people directly working for the coal industry throughout the state - including about 1,300 at McElroy and Shoemaker mines in Marshall County - retrieving the fossil fuel provided average employee salaries of $74,243 in fiscal 2009, the study shows.
The report, assembled by budget and policy center and Downstream Strategies of Morgantown, notes that coal production carries hidden expenses that state officials never recover, including multi-million dollar damage to roads and bridges. The study shows coal taxes gathered $59 million for the State Road Fund in fiscal 2009, yet led to $156.5 million in expenses for the fund, thus accounting for the net loss for taxpayers.
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(File photo by Scott McCloskey)
A coal miner works in McElroy Mine south of Moundsville. A new study claims that coal mining cost the West Virginia state budget $97.5 million in fiscal 2009.
"This does not include the external costs of coal mining - this is just how it impacts the state budget," said Ted Boettner, executive director for the budget and policy center.
According to the organization's website, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization." It lists the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the AFL-CIO among its donors. Downstream Strategies "provides science, research, and tools to organizations, businesses, and agencies," its website notes.
The report recommends state officials:
Bill Raney, president of the the West Virginia Coal Association, said the report, "seems to throw darts at a significant industry."
"One of the things that keeps the industry viable here is the ability to compete in the global market. If taxes are increased, production will go down," he said.
The coal group noted the study was funded by "anti-coal extremist groups" such as the Sierra Club and authored by people who have engaged in anti-coal activities. Lead author Rory McIlmoil once worked as a community organizer for Coal River Mountain Watch, a group hoping to stop a mountaintop removal mining operation and put a wind farm in its place.