Author

Zeke Lee

Zeke Lee

Legislative Director, Public Lands | Western Interstate Region

Upcoming Events

Related News

County News

BLM, HUD target public lands for housing

Action Needed

Urge your members of Congress to support mandatory full funding for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. 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. Unless Congress acts, counties will have received their last fully funded PILT disbursement in 2024.

Without mandatory full funding, PILT will remain a discretionary program (subject to the annual appropriations process) and could fall back to pre-2008 funding levels, which would devastate local government service delivery in areas with significant federal land ownership.

Background

The PILT program was created in 1976 to offset costs incurred by counties for services provided to federal employees and families, the public and to the users of public lands. Services include education, solid waste disposal, law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, firefighting, parks and recreation and other important community services.

Annual PILT funding levels remained static for many years. For nearly two decades, counties watched the value of their PILT receipts drop due to inflation. In 1995, NACo was successful in securing an amendment to the PILT formula, (P.L. 103-397), which adjusted annual authorization levels for inflation.

The FY 2024 and the FY 2023 Omnibus appropriations package ensured full, mandatory funding for PILT to over 1,900 counties nationwide. PILT was fully funded in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 at $578.8 million. PILT was fully funded in FY 2022 at $549.4 million. In FY 2021, public lands counties received $529.7 million from PILT. The program was funded at$514.7 million in FYs 2019 and 2020. The FY 2018 Omnibus appropriations package, signed into law on March 23, 2018, funded PILT at $552.8 million. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 also fully funded PILT at $465 million for FY 2017.

In FY 2014, PILT was extended through the farm bill (P.L. 113- 79) as a fully funded, mandatory entitlement program at $425 million. Mandatory funding of $399 million for FY 2013 was achieved through the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) (P.L. 112-141). Previously, the enactment of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (P.L. 110-343) provided full funding for PILT from FY 2008 through FY 2012. From its enactment in 1976 through 2007, PILT was a discretionary program subject to annual appropriations and as a result was underfunded year after year.

Key Talking Points

  • The PILT program provides payments to counties and other local governments to offset forgone 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 (mandated by law) such as education, emergency services, transportation infrastructure, law enforcement and health care in over 1,900 counties in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • Without predictable mandatory funding, PILT will remain a discretionary program subject to the annual appropriations process. Counties urge the administration and members of Congress to support long- term, predictable full funding for PILT.
  • While the Senate and House continue to discuss long-term legislative solutions for funding the PILT program, NACo will continue to urge leadership in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle to work together to fully fund the program.
  • Urge your members of Congress to support and cosponsor the Permanently Authorizing PILT Act (H.R. 5929) sponsored by Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) and John Duarte (R-Calif.), or other similar legislation in the 119th Congress. H.R. 5929 or comparable legislation would permanently fund the PILT program, giving local governments a reliable funding stream to support critical local infrastructure and services.
Tagged In:

Related News

The Western Interstate Region Executive Committee meets for the first time in 2025 during the WIR Conference in Pennington County, S.D.. From left: Immediate Past President John Espy, Carbon County, Wyo.; President John Peters, Mono County, Calif.; Dwayne McFall, Fremont County, Colo. and Second Vice President Derrick DeGroot, Klamath County, Ore. Photo by Rebecca DeWitt
County News

WIR grows membership, offerings in South Dakota

Members of NACo’s Western Interstate Region learned about and fueled the work being done by the National Center for Public Lands Counties at the WIR Conference in Pennington County, S.D.

Greg Brophy, Colorado director of the Western Way, addresses the WIR Board of Directors. Photo by Charlie Ban
County News

Interest in energy generation builds in the West

Counties are exploring the potential for energy generation on their public lands, but local control will set the stage for a tradeoff.

Bureau of Land Management Acting Director John Raby speaks to the WIR Board of Directors during the 2025 NACo Legislative Conference in March. He addressed a workshop remotely during the 2025 WIR Conference in Pennington County, S.D. in May. Photo by Denny Henry
County News

BLM, HUD target public lands for housing

A multi-agency push could open up hundreds of thousands of BLM acres near towns and cities to development for attainable housing.