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"it just runs through here and is a total loss for us"
I was curious if you were right. According to this paper, http://nobakken.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ETP-Report.pdf
Iowa will see about $25-$30 million in annual property tax revenue from the pipeline. And that's about it, which is maybe adequate? I don't know. But the report was commissioned by "Dakota Access, LLC", so I suppose we should assume they systematically erred, if at all, by inflating the potential return.States can also tax income of the owner of the pipeline. But pipelines are usually structured as pass-through entities (e.g. MLP), and there are enough state and federal loopholes--special deductions, deferments, etc--that any income tax is probably minimal. The paper doesn't bother trying to estimate that revenue, AFAICT. Figures for sales, use, and income taxes in that paper are only for construction and maintenance of the pipeline. It's not tied to actual pipeline throughput. I think it would be unconstitutional for states to directly tax pipeline throughput except for the state where the oil originates. Louisiana does this and the legal issues are really complex AFAIK. Chapter 7 of that paper also examines accident risk, which is quite interesting. In case the link disappears, the report heading is An Assessment of the Economic and Fiscal Impacts
of the Dakota Access Pipeline in
North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois
Prepared for Dakota Access, LLC
Prepared by Harvey Siegelman, Mike Lipsman and Dan Otto
Strategic Economics Group
West Des Moines, Iowa
November 12, 2014
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