Next step on PILT requires more outreach

Key Takeaways

Counties have long sought permanent funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, so Rep. Celeste Maloy’s (R-Utah) assessment could have had a chilling effect.

She has been on both sides of the deal, first as a county attorney for Washington County, Utah and then as a lawyer for the Utah Association of Counties before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2023. 

“As much as I would like to see that happen, I think we’re in the wrong political climate for that right now because we’re trying to make everything not permanent right now,” she told the NACo Public Lands Policy Steering Committee Feb. 21. “Mandatory spending is what we’re trying to cut back.”

But she didn’t rule it out.

PILT compensates counties for the nontaxable federal land in their boundaries for which they provide services, and the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program pays counties in lieu of timber receipts. Nearly three-quarters of counties contain federal public land, which accounts for more than a quarter of U.S. land. The 2025 PILT payments, which are discretionary spending, totaled $644.8 million.

“It’s easy to forget about PILT and SRS unless your county elected officials are blowing you up all the time on it,” Maloy said. “Go talk to people you don’t know, go tell your stories. I can tell you, sitting in office now, it is really hard to ignore people who show up and tell you their experience with something we’re doing and how it impacts their constituents.”

She noted that many of her congressional colleagues don’t often hear from their county leaders, suggesting that some members of Congress are low-hanging fruit in the effort.

“If your own representative isn’t listening, call another one nearby, because our Western issues aren’t that different,” she said. “If you are in a blue Western state and you’re looking at red issues, call someone across the border because what we need is good information. 

“It would really be easy for me and my staff to sit in our ivory tower and think we have all the right answers and then we can come up with all the good ideas. And we will get it wrong if we're not hearing from people who are on the ground and applying it.”