Alaska Governor Palin Announces Special Session to Revisit Oil Taxes

August 3, 2007, Juneau, Alaska - Saying Alaskans must have confidence in the integrity of the state’s oil tax structure, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today announced her intention to call the Legislature into special session starting October 18, 2007, to reconsider the Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) it passed last year.

Due in part to the public corruption probe, Governor Palin directed the Department of Revenue to review the performance of PPT. The department has completed a Status Report on the Implementation of PPT, released today. The report concludes:

PPT is resulting in far less revenue than was estimated in the fiscal notes prepared in support of the bill. Companies are reporting far greater costs than were predicted when PPT passed. Exploration companies are getting less value from the credits included in PPT than was expected due to the limited market of taxpayers willing to buy the credits.

The Governor has directed the Department of Revenue to prepare a proposal to respond to the substantive deficiencies with PPT. She has asked the department to have the proposal ready for release to the public by September 4, 2007. This will provide the Legislature and the public with more than 40 days to become familiar with the proposal before the special session begins.

The Governor repeated her desire to hold the special session at a more accessible location on Alaska’s road system. She will ask the presiding officers, Speaker Harris and President Green, to poll their members to determine what location is preferred by legislators, and get back to her before September 4, 2007. On that date, Governor Palin will announce the location of the special session and the proposal to address the issues with PPT.

Source: Alaska Governor

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