State Rep. Bob Hagan, D-Youngstown, said he is outraged by a report that Ohio's oil and gas companies are apparently paying their state taxes on the honor system.
The report comes from a coalition of Northeast Ohio university journalism programs, including Youngstown State University. It shows at least a $3 million discrepancy in the amount of taxes collected in 2010 and what was reported by the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.
Hagan said this shows weakness in the Ohio Department of Taxation and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
"I mean you're talking billions of dollars in profits, and millions of dollars in taxes, and somebody has to step up and say you have to pay your fair share. You can't be in collusion by just paying campaign contributions to shut people up. That's what it seems like to me," Hagan said.
Hagan said this is exactly the reason a moratorium should be placed on oil and gas drilling statewide, until these issues can be figured out. He proposes letting all Ohio citizens pay their income taxes based on what they think is fair as the state apparently is doing with the oil and gas industry.
"I was outraged at first, and now it's so laughable that I'm throwing my hands up saying, 'we need to stop and look at this before we really get screwed over here', and people are ignoring it by saying, 'who cares?, we're creating jobs.' I think that's the wrong path to take," Hagan said.
