Record PILT payments coming to counties
Author
Upcoming Events
Related News
Key Takeaways
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced June 27 that over $552.8 million will be distributed to counties in 2018 through the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.
This represents the largest total PILT disbursement to date since the program was first enacted in 1976.
Learn More
The PILT program provides payments to counties and other local governments to offset losses in tax revenues due to the presence of substantial federal land acreage within their jurisdictions.
Because local governments are unable to tax the property values or products derived from federal lands, PILT payments are necessary to support essential local government services — those mandated by law — such as education, emergency services, transportation infrastructure, law enforcement and health care.
More than 1,900 counties in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island receive PILT payments.
Since PILT payments began over 40 years ago, the Department of Interior has invested about $8.5 billion dollars through the PILT program in counties across the country.
As Secretary Zinke stated in his announcement, “These investments are one of the ways the federal government is fulfilling its role of being a good land manager and good neighbor to local communities.”
“PILT investments often serve as critical support for local communities as they juggle planning and paying for basic services, such as public safety, fire-fighting, social services, and transportation,” he said.
NACo applauds Congress and the administration for this record investment in the PILT program and for their support of America’s public lands counties.
Attachments
Related News
Congress advances resolutions to overturn three Bureau of Land Management resource management plans
On October 8 and 9, the U.S. Congress passed resolutions under Congressional Review Act authority expressing disapproval of three Bureau of Land Management resource management plans covering public lands in Montana, Alaska and North Dakota. The resolutions repeal recently finalized resource management plans and revert the areas to prior land use plans.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces it will not develop a recovery plan for the gray wolf
On November 3, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would not develop a national recovery plan for the gray wolf, which is currently considered endangered under the Endangered Species Act in much of the contiguous United States. The Service’s assessment, which determines that a nationwide recovery plan is no longer necessary for gray wolves, is consistent with previous federal agency findings that the species no longer warrant endangered or threatened species protection.
Bipartisan legislation encouraging active forest management advances in U.S. Senate
On January 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fix Our Forests Act (H.R. 471/S. 1462), also known as FOFA. Initially introduced by Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.), this bipartisan legislation will promote active forest management to curtail the wildfire crisis and protect rural communities, infrastructure and natural resources.