Gas drilling impact fees that flow to Butler County and the townships, boroughs and other municipalities within its borders are dropping for the third year in a row.

The official totals for Act 13 disbursements were released Thursday by the state Public Utility Commission, with the list showing that only one municipality in Butler County — Clinton Township, which will receive $159,355 — will receive more money than last year.

Clinton Township will receive $832 more than in 2016, according to the PUC.

Meanwhile, most other municipalities in the county will see a significant drop in Act 13 revenue when their checks arrive next month.

The biggest decrease overall will be shouldered by county officials, who will see their Act 13 allocation dip to $1.67 million from more than $1.9 million last year. It's a reduction that officials, from controller Ben Holland to county commissioners, said last month they expected, as natural gas prices remain near historic lows and gas drilling activity throughout the state remains in a state of nearly-suspended animation.

The county currently has 394 fee-paying wells, down from 403 last year, according to the PUC, while the number of unconventional wells statewide was up from 7,878 last year to 8,118 this year.

Ups and downs

The county has chosen to weather the inevitable ups and downs of Act 13 disbursements through policies that govern how the money must be used. Funneling revenue from the fees into one-time expenses is critical, Holland said in May, because it helps municipalities avoid taking a general fund budget hit when fees dip like they did this year.

In 2016, commissioners enacted a policy mandating that 40 percent of the county's impact fee, or no less than $750,000, be used for the operations or debt service of county emergency services. The policy also requires 15 percent, or not less than $250,000, be used to find technological or capital improvement; and 35 percent, or no less than $200,000, gets funneled to the county infrastructure bank, which allots grants and loans for municipal projects.

Like Butler County, officials representing municipalities said they weren't surprised by the drop in revenue from gas drilling. And while most don't have policies in place that govern how they use Act 13 money, officials said they generally put the money into capital projects like roads, stormwater management upgrades or other public works projects.

Summit Twp. hit hard

The municipality that took the biggest one-year hit to Act 13 funding appears to be Summit Township, which will receive $106,535 this year, $78,818 less than their allocation in 2016.

Township Secretary-Treasurer Roxann Stickney said that the money, which is usually designated to pay for road projects in the township each year, would be missed but wouldn't create a drag on the budget.

“The township decided not to budget as much in case this happened,” Stickney said. “We had a feeling that it might not be as high as last year.”

Another large municipality that will see a significant Act 13 decrease this year is Butler Township, where officials will receive $153,938, nearly $60,000 less than last year.

Township manager Ed Kirkwood said he expected a decrease in Act 13 revenue, but acknowledged that the size of the drop had surprised him for a second year in a row.

The township usually splits its Act 13 money between various public works projects that include road construction and repair as well as stormwater system improvements. But Kirkwood said that this year officials had budgeted almost exclusively for about $165,000 in road paving — a figure that comes in above the township's allocation for the year, but won't create a fiscal issue for the township, Kirkwood said.

“It was expected, and it's something that none of us on the local level could ever control,” Kirkwood said.

Some hold off spending

Other municipalities say they've adopted a long-range planning approach to using Act 13 revenue, holding it in reserve until there's enough to pay for a large capital improvement project.

Connoquenessing Township, which will take a $26,101 hit and collect only $155,276 this year — down from $181,376 in 2016 — is using about $400,000 in accumulated Act 13 money for a large summer paving project, said township supervisor Ed Rupert.

Rupert said the township holds all Act 13 money in a separate account, and has accumulated more than $500,000 waiting for the right time to use it repairing the township's roads. Rupert said the project was delayed last year because officials feared utility work and heavy vehicle traffic would ruin the improvements. He said the township was already planning for the inevitable drawdown of Act 13 funding in future years.

“It definitely hurts any time the state cuts money, but it's something we're going to have to manage, because it's going to continue to go down,” Rupert said.

Other effects

Other municipal officials said that forward-thinking budgeting had put them in a position to weather the fee slump.

Mindy Gall, the city clerk of Butler, said the city had only budgeted $55,000 for revenue from Act 13, because of predictions that the fees would continue to decline. That means the city — which will see a decrease from $72,975 last year to $62,478 this year — will actually get more than officials planned for.

“I don't think it will have a huge impact, but we're certainly going to miss it,” Gall said.

In Center Township, which will see a drop from $111,344 last year to $96,893 this year, treasurer Anthony Amendolea said the municipality had already used its allocation to buy a new dump truck for its road department.

Amendolea said the township rolls Act 13 revenue into its capital reserve, and characterized the yearly decreases as concerning but outside of the township's control.

“I don't think it will have an impact on us,” Amendolea said.