Edmond Life & Leisure June 11, 2015 Page 23

Miller: Oil prices

affecting coffers
Oklahomas Gross Receipts to the
Treasury report for May shows the impact of lower oil and gas prices likely
impacted other revenue streams, State
Treasurer Ken Miller announced last
week.
Receipts in three of the states four
major revenue streams gross production, sales tax, and motor vehicle tax
were less than in May of last year.
Only gross income tax collections
showed growth, but of that, personal
income tax receipts were also lower
than the prior year. Only corporate income tax collections were more than
receipts of May 2014.
Low market prices for crude oil and
natural gas spilled over into the
broader economy as energy companies curbed their spending during the
month. On balance, gross receipts
were more than six percent lower than
this time last year, Miller said.
Though the news is not positive this
month, our hope is that well soon see
improvement as prices rebound.
Gross production taxes on oil and
natural gas, reflecting oilfield activity
from March, generated $38 million,
down by more than $43 million from
monthly receipts last May. In March,
the spot price of West Texas Interme-

diate crude oil was $47.82 per barrel.

Natural gas sold for $2.91 per thousand cubic feet at the Henry Hub in
Louisiana during the same month.
Sales tax collections in May were
down by more than 4 percent, while
motor vehicle tax collections were off
by more than 5 percent and personal
income tax collections dipped by 1
percent. On the other hand, corporate
income tax collections were up by
more than 200 percent. However, corporate collections often vary widely
from month to month and are not
necessarily indicative of any economic
trend.
Combined gross receipts over the
past 12 months continue to show
growth, but the current growth rate of
3.4 percent is down from a rate of 4
percent seen last month.
Other indicators
The states unemployment rate increased to 4.1 percent in April, up by
two-tenths of a percentage point from
the prior month. The nations unemployment rate was set at 5.4 percent
in April.
The Business Conditions Index for
Oklahoma dropped below growth
neutral in May to 47 from Aprils 50.8.

PHOTO PROVIDED

From left are Megan Billingsley, John Pickens III and Megan Bowen.

Edmonds Arledge & Associates

Summer interns at accounting firm

Arledge & Associates has named

the participants in its summer internship program for 2015, the Edmond
accounting firm announced.
John Pickens III, Megan Bowen and
Megan Billingsley will work alongside
the firms team of accounting, tax
and auditing professionals, expanding
their knowledge of the industry and
learning its practical applications in
todays fast-paced business environment.
Pickens is a graduate of Oklahoma
Christian University, Bowen has her
degree from the University of Central

Chamber honors Locally Owned Business

RAY HIBBARD

Uptown Grocery was the host of the Edmond Locally Owned ELO Espresso event last week. Marketing Manager for Uptown, Denise Hawkins, treated the members to breakfast, a tour of the store and
gave them each a gift card to kick off the shopping that morning. Edmond Locally Owned is a part of
the Edmond Chamber of Commerce and identifies truly locally owned businesses so that consumers
can easily identify locally owned business in the Edmond area.

Oklahoma, and Billingsley is a senior

at Oklahoma State University.
We are excited to have three outstanding young professionals join our
summer internship program, said Jim
Denton, managing partner. We anticipate they will contribute greatly to
our company as they benefit from
learning more about our industry.
Arledge & Associates, PC is a recognized leader in the accounting industry offering practical solutions in
the areas of tax planning, auditing,
consulting, accounting advisory services and client accounting.

Energy industry
welcomes EPAs
fracking report
The Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association welcomes
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys forthcoming report on the impact of hydraulic fracturing on water resources.
The report concludes the completion process,
which has revolutionized domestic oil and natural
gas production, has not resulted in any widespread, systemic impacts on the nations drinking
water.
This report reinforces what the industry has
been saying for some time: hydraulic fracturing is
a safe process that has successfully unlocked a bonanza of natural resources in the United States,
OKOGA President Chad Warmington said. We
are committed to using this technology safely to
continue fueling our nation, without endangering
the environment or the communities where we
operate.
Warmington said the industry already has been
working to address the potential vulnerabilities
identified in the EPA report, which is the culmination of five years of studying hydraulic fracturing.
Warmington said Oklahoma regulators have
been doing a good job for 50 years of monitoring
such issues to ensure oil and gas operations do
not taint the states water supply. There have not
been any documented cases of water contamination from hydraulic fracturing in Oklahoma.