Idaho Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, and Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson say county leaders need release of federal funding distributed under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program.
In a bipartisan letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the Idaho leaders and Murray joined 32 other members of Congress from both parties asking the Obama Administration to release the funds before the end of this month.
PILT compensate counties for the loss of tax revenue due to federal land ownership. Nearly $381 million was distributed to counties across the nation in Fiscal Year 2009. The payments were anticipated to be made by June 30, in time for the start of the fiscal year for most counties. However, the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced a delay in the release of the funds.
The formula used to compute the payments is based on population, receipt sharing payments, and the amount of Federal land within an affected county. The program was created in 1977.
Sen. Crapo, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, says many rural counties lose so much of their tax base to federal land ownership, and the timely release of PILT payments is imperative to ensure that counties recoup lost tax dollars and can fund critical road maintenance projects and schools.
