Each year, the West Virginia Coal Association puts out its Coal Facts publication. It's like a yearbook about coal in West Virginia.
It's a great publication and brings to light exactly how important coal is to
the economic health of the state - the entire state, not only the counties where
coal is produced.
The Journal: Nov. 14, 2008-- Each year, the West Virginia Coal Association puts out its Coal Facts publication. It's like a yearbook about coal in West Virginia.
It's a great publication and brings to light exactly how important coal is to the economic health of the state - the entire state, not only the counties where coal is produced.
The part I find most interesting is the recounting of coal severance tax distribution for the previous year.
The Legislature enacted a 5 percent tax on the sale price of mined coal in 1987. Of the revenues generated by this tax, the state keeps 93 percent, and the remaining 7 percent is distributed among West Virginia's counties and municipalities.
Three-fourths of the 7 percent is divided among coal-producing counties according to each county's production level. There are 29 of West Virginia's 55 counties in which coal is mined.
The one-quarter leftover is apportioned among the rest of the counties and municipalities based on each jurisdiction's population.
In 2007, from the coal severance tax, these counties/cities received:
- Berkeley County $217,843.57
- Jefferson County, $122,670.47
- Morgan County, $49,374
- Martinsburg $53,738.56
- Hedgesville, $861.43
- Ranson, $10,591.94
- Charles Town, $10,434.02
- Bolivar, $3,750.81
- Shepherdstown, $2,882.17
- Harpers Ferry, $1,101.92
- Berkeley Springs, $2,379.65
- Paw Paw, $1,880.79.
That's a grand total of $477, 515.33 in coal severance tax payments for the tri-county.
That's not too bad for an area that has no coal mines.
Total severance tax collections for 2007 was more than $400 million. About $19.5 million went to coa-producing counties, and about $6.5 million went to the rest of the counties and municipalities.
Another factoid found in Coal Facts is Massey Energy is no long the largest coal producer in West Virginia. That honor now goes to CONSOL Energy, which produced more than 33 million tons of coal in West Virginia last year, while Massey produced about 31.9 million tons.
Also, Boone County, which is just south of Kanawha County, is the king of coal country in West Virginia. About 33.6 million tons of coal were produced in Boone County in 2007, 4,122 people were directly employed in coal mining in Boone County last year and there were 102 mines located in Boone County, the most of all counties in all those categories.
Boone County has the largest single surface mine, Twilight MTR, operated by Independence Coal Co. as well. It produced more than 5 million tons last year.
HISPANIC GROWTH
Here are some more really interesting figures that came out during the election shuffle and kind of got lost.
Percentage wise, Berkeley County had the 17th greatest growth in Hispanic residents from 2000 to 2007 of all the counties in the United States with at least 1,000 Hispanic residents, which was 1,362 counties, according to the Pew Hispanic Center's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau county population estimates.
Berkeley County's Hispanic population grew by 171 percent during that period.
Jefferson County was 22nd, according to the report, with a growth of 155 percent.
Between the years 1990 and 2000, Berkeley County's Hispanic population growth rank was 347 and Jefferson County's was 800.
The entire region's Hispanic population has exploded since 2000. Frederick County, Va., was ranked No. 1 in Hispanic population growth at 335 percent. It was ranked 273rd in the 1990-2000 period.
Loudoun County, Va., was 13th with a 183 percent growth. Loudoun has the largest Hispanic population locally at 28,529. Loudoun's growth rank in the 1990-2000 period was 181.
And Frederick County, Md., was ranked 15th with a growth rate of 177 percent. It was ranked 347 in the 1990-2000 period.
Five of the top 25 Hispanic population growth counties in the nation are all right here in our area, including No. 1. That's pretty amazing.
And, by comparing the 1990-2000 numbers with the 2000-2007 numbers, it's quite plain to see that in less than a decade, the Hispanic population has gone through the roof.
Additionally, although the total Hispanic population is quite small comparatively, Clarke County, Va., was 29th in the percent change in its Hispanic population at 190 percent from 2000 to 2007.
Finally, Washington County, Md., came in 81st in percent change at 136 percent from 2000 to 2007.
Source/Writer:
The Journal
By: John McVey
John McVey is editorial page editor of The Journal.
He can be reached at
(304) 263-3381, ext. 128
Email: jmcvey@journal-news.net