Fiscal Year 2001 PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) - BLM California news release, 9/20/01

For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 20, 2001 SO-00-12
Contact: Sharon Wilson, (202) 452-5130, Bill Howell (202) 452-7721
or John Dearing (916) 978-4622

BLM distributes over $199 million in "PILT" checks to local governments

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is sending just over $199 million to nearly 1,900 local governments across the nation in accordance with the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced this year's total is nearly $65 million more than last year's payment.

California receives the largest PILT payment of $20,899,051, an increase of $6 million over last year's payment.

PILT payments offset the loss of tax revenue to localities caused by the presence of tax-exempt federal land within their jurisdictions. According to Acting BLM Director Nina Hatfield, the PILT payments are important to the economic well-being of communities. "PILT payments help fund vital community services, such as firefighting and police protection, and construction of hospitals and public school," Hatfield said. BLM has distributed more than $2.7 billion in PILT payments to local governments since the program's inception in 1977.

BLM is responsible for the distribution of the congressionally appropriated PILT payments to eligible units of local governments. Payments are made for tax-exempt federal lands in the National Park and National Forest systems, federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, lands dedicated to federal water resources development projects, and lands withdrawn from the public domain in other categories.

BLM calculates the payments using the PILT Act formula, based on population and the amount of federal land within an affected county. These payments are in addition to federal revenues transferred to the counties under other programs, such as income generated from use of federal land for livestock grazing and timber harvesting.

Below is the complete list of California's 2000 PILT payments by county:

Alameda...............................997

Alpine..............................64,342

Amador...........................13,339

Butte.............................140,274

Calaveras.......................142,648

Colusa.............................72,322

Contra Costa.....................2,560

Del Norte.........................70,561

El Dorado........................84,272

Fresno........................1,198,905

Glenn...............................99,840

Humboldt......................877,046

Imperial......................1,316,390

Inyo..............................779,153

Kern...........................1,142,624

Kings...............................10,806

Lake................................58,291

Lassen...........................995,971

Los Angeles...................633,251

Madera..........................447,026

Marin.............................103,206

Mariposa.......................535,076

Mendocino....................219,021

Merced............................40,279

Modoc..........................259,156

Mono............................331,624

Monterey.......................380,773

Napa...............................67,790

Nevada..........................150,503

Orange..............................53,447

Placer.............................240,201

Plumas............................687,757

Riverside......................1,489,331

Sacramento.........................9,048

San Benito......................112,672

San Bernardino............1,433,507

San Diego.......................490,097

San Francisco.....................3,752

San Joaquin........................2,273

San Luis Obispo.............486,981

San Mateo..........................2,927

Santa Barbara.................800,043

Santa Clara.........................2,849

Santa Cruz................................0

Shasta............................668,887

Sierra.............................. 92,358

Siskiyou..........................392,178

Solano................................7,805

Sonoma..............................3,703

Stanislaus............................3,712

Sutter........................................0

Tehama..........................270,595

Trinity.............................236,393

Tulare..........................1,342,785

Tuolumne.....................1,106,820

Ventura..........................642,096

Yolo.................................35,309

Yuba................................43,479

Total...................... $20,899,051

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land - 264 million surface acres - than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 western states including Alaska. The Bureau also administers more than 700 million acres of sub_surface minerals estate throughout the nation. BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.

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California State Office - 2800 Cottage Way - Sacramento, CA 95825 - (916) 978-4600