Office of the Secretary - U.S. Department of the Interior - www.doi.gov - News Release
Date: Nov. 20, 2008
Contact: Shane Wolfe (202) 208-6416
William Howell (202) 208-3157

$139 Million Distributed to State and County Governments
in Full Compensation for FY 2008 Payments in Lieu of Taxes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today that the Department of the Interior has distributed an additional $138.7 million in supplemental payments to about 2,200 county and other local governments, providing them full compensation for taxes that could not be levied on federal lands in their jurisdictions during fiscal year 2008.

The additional compensation under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program is authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which President Bush signed on Oct. 3. In June of 2008, $228.5 million in fiscal year 2008 PILT payments were distributed to these jurisdictions. The combined payments - $367.2 million - will provide these governments their first full PILT entitlement payments since 1994. The reauthorized PILT program will provide more than $1.5 billion in full compensation through 2012 to local governments that qualify.

"These payments help local governments provide vital services to communities across the country, including education, firefighting, transportation, and emergency response," Kempthorne said. "These jurisdictions provide support for federal lands throughout the year, every year, earning our appreciation and thanks. I am pleased that they will now receive their full PILT compensation through 2012."

Since 1994, payments were subject to appropriation and have not matched the full entitlement level. From 1995 through 2008, payments to local jurisdictions funded from 41 to 77 percent of the entitlement levels. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 makes the PILT program mandatory, so through 2012, payments will equal the full entitlement levels for each county and other local jurisdictions that receive PILT payments.

Eligibility for PILT payments is reserved for local governments (usually counties) that contain National Forests, National Parks, Bureau of Land Management public lands, and lands dedicated to water resource development projects.

By law, the payments are calculated using a mandated formula, based on the number of acres of federal entitlement land, the population within each county or jurisdiction, and adjusted for revenue sharing payments. Revenue payments are federal payments made to local governments under programs other than PILT during the previous year. Payments are made under the Refuge Revenue Sharing Fund, the National Forest Fund, the Taylor Grazing Act, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Power Act, and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.

The Department of the Interior collects about $4 billion a year in revenue from commercial activities on federal lands, such as livestock grazing, timber harvesting, and oil and natural gas leasing. Some of these revenues are shared with states and counties in the form of revenue-sharing payments. The balance is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding to counties.

Payments to individual counties may vary from the prior year because of changes in acreage data, which is updated yearly by the federal agency administering the land; population data, which is updated based on U.S. Census Bureau data; and the prior year revenue payment, which is reported by states. The per acre and population variables used to compute payments are also adjusted for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index and Census data, as required by 1994 amendments to the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act. Sections 6904 and 6905 of the PILT law provide additional payments for additions to the National Park System and National Forest Wilderness areas.

Attached is a state-by-state chart of PILT payments for fiscal year 2008. A complete list of county-by-county PILT payments is online at http://www.nbc.gov/pilt/pilt/search.cfm

The attached state list also is online at http://www.nbc.gov/pilt/pilt/states.cfm

 

Payments in Lieu of Taxes
Fiscal Year 2008
Summary by State
 
FY 2008
FY2008
FY2008
State
June Payment
Nov Payment
Total Payment
ALABAMA 434,545 264,027 698,572
ALASKA 15,608,045 9,467,223 25,075,268
ARIZONA      19,090,338 11,584,135 30,674,473
ARKANSAS          2,361,587 1,433,325 3,794,912
CALIFORNIA           20,683,852 12,551,121 33,234,973
COLORADO                17,600,691 10,680,351 28,281,042
CONNECTICUT     17,330 10,614 27,944
DELAWARE    10,550 6,403 16,953
DIST. OF COLUMBIA      15,151 9,194 24,345
FLORIDA      2,762,193 1,677,044 4,439,237
GEORGIA       1,438,778 873,450 2,312,228
GUAM            1,328 806 2,134
HAWAII            194,240 117,867 312,107
IDAHO       16,061,016 9,770,796 25,831,812
ILLINOIS      642,377 390,132 1,032,509
INDIANA    388,114 235,827 623,941
IOWA      263,950 160,210 424,160
KANSAS    654,922 397,483 1,052,405
KENTUCKY               1,458,621 885,877 2,344,498
LOUISIANA   320,822 195,207 516,029
MAINE       193,318 117,702 311,020
MARYLAND    65,140 39,595 104,735
MASSACHUSETTS     60,685 37,424 98,109
MICHIGAN    2,589,429 1,571,472 4,160,901
MINNESOTA    1,628,073 988,564 2,616,637
MISSISSIPPI      892,929 542,465 1,435,394
MISSOURI    1,778,216 1,079,285 2,857,501
MONTANA               16,995,313 10,312,915 27,308,228
NEBRASKA                   674,714 409,710 1,084,424
NEVADA                    14,071,406 8,538,611 22,610,017
NEW HAMPSHIRE        1,024,755 621,950 1,646,705
NEW JERSEY      67,719 41,359 109,078
NEW MEXICO   22,477,619 13,639,561 36,117,180
NEW YORK      85,916 52,431 138,347
NORTH CAROLINA      2,456,991 1,491,110 3,948,101
NORTH DAKOTA            907,749 551,075 1,458,824
OHIO          415,851 252,595 668,446
OKLAHOMA     1,537,362 933,428 2,470,790
OREGON       6,272,913 3,806,587 10,079,500
PENNSYLVANIA       325,067 197,770 522,837
PUERTO RICO    13,505 8,195 21,700
RHODE ISLAND       0 13 13
SOUTH CAROLINA          234,560 142,398 376,958
SOUTH DAKOTA            2,638,151 1,601,199 4,239,350
TENNESSEE     1,448,696 879,153 2,327,849
TEXAS       2,655,845 1,611,904 4,267,749
UTAH       20,044,139 12,162,909 32,207,048
VERMONT     533,472 323,875 857,347
VIRGIN ISLANDS     23,043 13,983 37,026
VIRGINIA    2,341,721 1,421,542 3,763,263
WASHINGTON     6,677,098 4,051,705 10,728,803
WEST VIRGINIA             1,560,496 947,237 2,507,733
WISCONSIN   770,373 468,346 1,238,719
WYOMING  15,036,089 9,123,992 24,160,081
Grand Total    228,506,803 138,693,152 367,199,955
 
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