Gem State Wire

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) announced 44 local governments in Idaho will receive a total of $38.2 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2023.  Since local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT payments help cover the costs associated with maintaining community services.

“PILT payments are critical to rural Idaho counties that rely on the funds for essential services,” said Crapo.  “Without a tax base, it is imperative the federal government provide the necessary resources for communities to carry out vital services such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations.”

“Every county in Idaho has nontaxable, federal land within its borders,” said Risch.  “Despite not being able to collect property tax revenue from these areas, our counties are still required to provide vital services on these lands. I will continue to strongly support fully funding PILT to ensure Idaho’s counties are being compensated for this lost revenue that provides for essential and emergency services.”

Crapo and Risch have been long-term proponents of ensuring the long-term viability of the PILT program.

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) collects more than $26.3 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands.  A portion of those revenues is shared with states and counties.  The balance is deposited into the U.S. Treasury, which, in turn, pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding.

Payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of that county or jurisdiction.  A full list of funding by state and county is available HERE.

Original source can be found here.