Eagle Ford windfall goes to fix what the boom broke
COTULLA —
It’s crowded inside the La Salle County clerk’s office.
On an early winter afternoon, lawyers, landmen and government officials pack into a small, 10-by-10 room filled with the county’s records. They scan through enormous books that detail the deeds and titles to every tract of land in the county. Outside in the lobby, others take a ticket like they’re at a deli counter, waiting to view a document or use the photocopier.
They are here because of oil and gas. La Salle County sits above the Eagle Ford Shale formation, the oil- and gas-rich region of South Texas that stretches from beyond the Mexican border to just south of Lockhart and that has generated thousands of jobs and contributed billions of dollars to state coffers.
Since 2008, county revenues throughout the shale region have exploded thanks to the oil and gas fracking bonanza. Much of the money has gone back into responding to challenges created by the arrival of energy companies, a comprehensive American-Statesman analysis of county budgets reveals. The windfall largely goes to repairing roads that heavy oil trucks have pummeled, expanding emergency and police services to handle the influx of workers and automobile accidents, and bolstering county bureaucracy to deal with the complexities of managing the energy boom.
So far, counties have spent little of their newfound revenue to plan for future infrastructure needs, which experts say will be vital in ensuring the boom has a lasting benefit for residents.
More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/eagle-ford-windfall-goes-to-fix-what-the-boom-brok/ndYjw/ (subscription required).
[font color=green]The focus of the article is on the tangible expenses related to the administration, HHS services, public safety, and road & bridge repair budgets in Atascosa, Frio, La Salle, Live Oak and McMullen counties. There is also some information regarding injuries and fatalities related to work-related and transportation-related occurrences within the article. However, issues such as the lack of housing and inflationary prices within the Eagle Ford shale are not mentioned.
There is also an interactive link comparing the 2011-2013 county budgets for the five counties noted is available at http://www.mystatesman.com/interactive/eagle-ford-shale-county-spending/ .[/font]