ERMUSR Misc 09-20-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Payments and Contributions by Public Power Distribution Systems To State and Local Governments, 2004 Data Executive Summary Public power systems provide a direct benefit to their communities in the form of payments and contributions to state and local government. The total value of the contributions made by the publicly owned utilities often comes in many forms and is not always easily recognized. In addition to payments such as property-like taxes, payments in lieu of taxes, and transfers to the general funds, many of the utilities make other contributions in the form of free or reduced cost services provided to states and cities. APPA calculated net payments and contributions for 343 public power systems in the most current data year of 2004 and determined that the median amount contributed was 5.3 percent of electric operating revenues. . In 2004, investor-owned utilities paid a median of 4.6 percent of electric operating revenues in taxes and fees to state and local governments. It is a common misconception that investor-owned utilities provide a benefit to the local communities by paying taxes that the publicly owned utilities do not. This report demonstrates just the opposite. When all taxes, tax equivalents and other contributions to state and local government are considered, the median amount contributed by public power systems in 2004, as a percent of electric operating revenues, was 15% higher than investor- owned utilities (5.3% vs. 4.6%).