On Oct. 19, with little fanfare, Congress sent the FY02 Interior and Related Agencies appropriation bill to President George W. Bush for his signature. Included in the $18.7 billion dollar measure is a record $210 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, the top funding priority for NACo’s Public Lands Steering Committee and Western Interstate Region.

“I’m glad Congress remembered the federal government’s responsibility to counties containing federally managed land,” said WIR President George Enneking (Commissioner, Idaho County, Idaho). “Even though the program isn’t fully funded, we’re moving in the right direction.”

Full funding for PILT would be just over $327 million, under the formula laid out in the PILT Act.

This is the highest PILT appropriation ever — $10 million more than last year’s record high. The final sum represented a 50-50 compromise between the $220 million appropriated by the Senate and the House amount of $200 million.

“This is great news,” said Joe Skeen (R-N.M.), chairman of the House subcommittee that sets spending levels for PILT. “This money replaces funds lost because the federal government pays no taxes to local entities. The $210 million will go a long way toward making up this loss and will mean a great deal to those folks.” Skeen added that local governments support the federal government in many ways and should not have to bear the additional burden of having to replace lost property tax value.

PILT payments, which are administered by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), help fund vital community services, such as firefighting and police protection, and construction of hospitals and public schools.

During the conference process, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), urged his fellow conferees for an amount closer to the Senate’s funding level. “As a former county commissioner, I understand the importance of PILT funding for the upkeep of our roads, schools and infrastructure,” Burns said. “I have used my position as ranking member of the Interior Subcommittee to secure these PILT payments for Montana, and I will continue working with Sen. Byrd (D–W.V.), [Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee] to see that these increases are preserved and built upon.”

NACo continues to support the effort to secure full funding for PILT on a permanent or ongoing basis.