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BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakota county officials want to know more about uranium taxes. (13th Oct, 2008)

Terry Traynor, the assistant director of the North Dakota Association of Counties, said he was asked by county commissioners to research the issue.

“Just about every state that had or now has uranium exploration has some sort of uranium tax structure,” Traynor said.

Uranium deposits have been identified in six counties: Adams, Billings, Bowman, Golden Valley, Stark and Slope, and even though actual mining could be years away, officials want to be prepared, he said.

“Rather than rush to deal with this after mining starts, let’s start dealing with it now,” Traynor said.

“The feeling is there is an impact to mining in the community — the roads, the infrastructure — and it’s legitimate to ask that the mining provide some of the tax necessary to compensate for those impacts,” he said.

Officials may want to look at taxing other minerals that are found with uranium, he said.

Traynor said some North Dakota counties may have taxed uranium when companies explored for it in the 1960s. “I’m guessing it was probably local taxation back then,” he said.

Other states’ taxes are similar to the current oil extraction tax with varying formulas, he said.

“That would be something we would have to study and find out what is reasonable in North Dakota,” Traynor said.

The North Dakota Association of Counties is holding its annual convention this week in Bismarck. Traynor said he hopes it will include discussion of the issue.

One possibility is an interim legislative study.

“You have to balance it with what’s reasonable and what the industry can manage,” Traynor said. “These are some of the questions that need to be answered.”

Sources: http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=73747§ion=News

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2008/10/13/news/state/166728.txt