Tax holiday hurts Montana communities

Editor:

From Culbertson to Miles City, cities are being hit hard by the costs of oil development.

Sidney is expected to need $47 million dollars in improvements to accommodate Bakken newcomers. Bainville, population 200, is expected to accommodate a 350-person man-camp because of a new frack-sand facility. In Culbertson, the sewer lagoons are at capacity.

Who pays for these infrastructure costs? Not the companies making the profits from the oil wells. The oil and gas companies escape almost all taxes on Montana's Bakken wells for the first 18 months. They only pay a rate of 0.5 percent as comp...