Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall today congratulated 55 Colorado counties on receiving over $31.6 million under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The payments will be used to help rural communities with nontaxable federal lands provide critical services, such as police, fire protection, emergency response, and public education.
“The PILT program helps rural communities across Colorado sustain critical services for their residents,” Bennet said. “These resources are lifelines for financially-strapped rural counties and will help support police, firefighters, and teachers in our rural communities. Now we must continue the fight for a long-term extension and full funding of PILT to avoid the uncertainty that comes with the year-to-year operation of the program.”
“The PILT program is essential to the financial well-being of rural communities throughout Colorado,” Udall said. “These resources support police, firefighters, schools and other services which help rural counties maintain public safety and quality of life. This smart investment creates jobs and promotes economic growth in counties across Colorado.”
Bennet and Udall have been strong advocates for fully funding the PILT program. Last year, the senators led the fight in support of PILT and the Secure Rural Schools funding, which was secured in the transportation bill signed into law last summer.
PILT provides federal payments to local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal land within their boundaries. Payments compensate these communities for their support and foregoing the tax revenues from these federal lands. The formula used to calculate payments is based on population, receipt sharing payments, and the amount of federal land within an affected county.
A full list of funding by state and county is at www.doi.gov/pilt.