A state audit released today says Colorado's severance tax law has dueling intents, causing widely disparate payments to some parts of the state.

And the situation is about to get worse.

Starting next fiscal year, the amount of severance tax money counties and municipalities get to help offset the impact of more workers living in their jurisdictions will double when a new law goes into effect.

Many counties, cities and towns in Colorado depend on money they get from severance taxes, paid by producers of coal, gas, and other mining operations. Part of that money — nearly $44 million over the past five years — is given to local governments to help with worker impacts, including the cost of providing public services, infrastructure and education.

"We found the current method (of distributing money directly to local governments) raises questions about whether the intents of the law are being achieved," legislative auditor Greg Fugate told the Legislative Audit Committee.

The committee's eight members are split evenly between senators and representatives, and between Democrats and Republicans.

The current law says 15 percent of the severance taxes should go back to the local governments, with each getting a portion based on how many workers reside within their boundaries. That amount will increase to 30 percent next fiscal year.

But the law also says the amount of money each local government gets should be proportional to the amount of severance tax that producers within the county pay.

State officials said it would be difficult to figure out a tax bill for producers in each county, something some lawmakers questioned. Instead, the money is doled out in different amounts for different kinds of workers.

So, while local governments get about $400 for every gold miner, they get more than $3,400 for every oil and gas worker. The Department of Local Affairs, which distributes the funds, pledged to work with lawmakers, local governments and taxpayers to fix the law.

Read the audit here.