Thursday April 7, 2005
Otter and Simpson Introduce PILT Full-Funding Bill

Measure Forces Washington To Meet Local Commitment, One Way or Another

Source: Representative C.L. Otter

Congress enacted the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program in 1976 to help communities offset the property tax revenue lost due to having nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. However, Congress has never provided enough money to fully fund PILT according to the law's formula, leaving local governments strapped to pay for vital services - including fire protection and search-and-rescue operations on those same federal lands.

In Idaho, where more than 63 percent of the land is federally owned, counties have been shorted $75.5 million that PILT failed to provide from 1995 through 2004 alone. That has had a direct impact on local property taxes, and on local services.

Under the bill introduced by Idaho's House members, H.R. 1469, failure to fully fund PILT through the appropriations process would result in a requirement that the federal government convey land of equivalent value to local government entities to cover any shortfall. National park land, wilderness areas and national wildlife refuges would be exempt from the land available to make up for PILT deficiencies. Beyond that, the local government would have its choice of compensatory federal property.

"If the government can't be a good neighbor, it has no business being in the neighborhood," Congressman Otter said. "There's no getting around the need for some of the basic services that property taxes provide on the local level, but there's no excuse for having to pay extra for the 'honor' of having so much nontaxable federal land in our counties. The federal government has been a deadbeat landlord long enough. This bill is a way to start making our counties whole."

"The least the federal government can do for the West's numerous public lands counties is meet the minimal commitments it has made through the PILT program," Congressman Simpson said. "Idaho's rural counties rely on PILT payments to fund basic services like schools, roads and law enforcement. When the federal government does not fulfill the responsibility of compensating counties that have no taxable land base, rural communities are the ones who feel the effects."

Last month, Congressmen Otter and Simpson became original cosponsors of the No Net Loss of Private Lands Act. That bill would require that any acquisition of more than 100 acres of new federal lands in states with 25 percent or more of their lands already under federal control be offset by a corresponding sale of existing holdings of equal or greater value. Besides checking the expansion of federal control in the West, that bill would require the government to consider the impacts of its acquisitions and to begin returning current holdings to private, taxpaying owners.

Contact:

Mark Warbis, Press Secretary
202-225-6611

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