Gas Price Drop Means Future Revenue Drop For County

While anyone heating with natural gas is enjoying some ease as prices fall, local governments are bracing for a likely hit to their bottom line.

Natrona County Treasurer, Tom Doyle, in a financial update to county commissioners this week, says we're o-k for now, though revenues weren't as high as expected.

It's the future impact of plummeting natural gas prices that he says are gonna hurt.

"What happened last year is what we will see this year, so the real low prices that are happening right now, we won't see the effect of those until next year.

Doyle says producer's valuations, based on price, play into property taxes in Natrona County, which is the county's number one revenue source.

He says a slow down in the gas fields could also have an indirect impact on the second biggest revenue source, sales and use tax.