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Date:       June 15, 2007 Contact:  Greg Albright (406) 896-5260   Montana to Receive $17,186,456 from Interior Under Federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program    Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has announced that Montana will receive $17,186,456 under the Payment In Lieu of Taxes Act to compensate county governments whose jurisdictions contain tax-exempt federal lands.   "These important dollars help states offset the loss of tax revenues to counties that contain federal lands," the Secretary said.  "We recognize the impact of federal land management on local communities and this money will help pay for essential services such as firefighting, search-and-rescue operations and a host of other badly needed on-the-ground services."   The money distributed to Montanawill go to 55 counties eligible under the PILT program for tax revenue lost because of the federal land in their jurisdiction. The counties receiving the largest payments are Ravalli, Flathead, and Lewis and Clark. A table showing Montana’s 2007 PILT payments by county follows:   MONTANA PILT 2007 Local Unit of Government Total Paid This FY Anaconda-Deer Lodge $287,865 Beaverhead 558,234 Big Horn                  8,311 Blaine 339,023 Broadwater 368,070 Butte-Silver Bow 308,090 Carbon 511,442 Carter 119,270 Cascade 287,829 Chouteau 191,935 Custer 470,002 Dawson 12,830 Fallon 23,248 Fergus 667,059 Flathead           1,354,704 Gallatin 961,356 Garfield 116,070 Glacier 572,449 Golden Valley 42,619 Granite 141,198 Hill 26,266 Jefferson 635,312 Judith Basin 176,650 Lake 167,102 Lewis and Clark            1,396,645 Liberty 30,950 Local Unit of Government Total Paid This FY Lincoln 350,628 Madison 540,907 McCone 171,259 Meagher 124,380 Mineral 128,839 Missoula 694,021 Musselshell 109,569 Park 846,375 Petroleum 45,499 Phillips 276,227 Pondera 132,098 Powder River 119,312 Powell 420,207 Prairie 86,149 Ravalli           1,469,669 Richland 10,905 Roosevelt 859 Rosebud 65,367 Sanders 183,489 Sheridan 357 Stillwater 256,460 Sweet Grass 331,860 Teton 380,129 Toole 35,361 Treasure 150 Valley 430,566 Wheatland 87,427 Wibaux 5,415 Yellowstone 108,443 TOTAL $17,186,456