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Last updated: 04/04/03

Contact: Tom Gorey, (202) 452-5031
For release: Thursday, September 25, 1997

BLM Distributes $113 Million in "PILT" Checks to Local Governments for Tax-Exempt Lands

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced that the Interior Department has sent payments for 1997 totaling $113 million to 2,327 local government units across the United States in accordance with the 1976 Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act.

The Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the Interior Department, distributes the PILT payments to eligible units of local governments each year. The payments are intended to offset the loss of tax revenue to States and localities caused by the presence of tax-exempt Federal land within their jurisdictions.

"PILT payments help local governments carry out such vital services as firefighting and police protection; construction of public schools and roads; and search-and-rescue operations," said BLM Director Pat Shea. "These payments are one of the ways that the Federal Government can fulfill its role of being a good neighbor to local communities. This is an especially important role for the BLM, which manages more land than any other Federal agency."

The annual PILT payments are made for tax-exempt Federal lands administered by the BLM, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (all agencies of the Interior Department), the U.S. Forest Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture), and for Federal water projects and some military installations.

Congress appropriates PILT payments each year according to a formula that includes population and the amount of Federal land within an affected county. These payments are in addition to other Federal revenues that the Federal Government transfers to the States. These revenues are derived from commercial activities on Federal lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing, and timber harvesting. The BLM has distributed more than two billion dollars in PILT payments to local governments since these payments began in 1977.

All States -- plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands -- are receiving PILT funds for Fiscal Year 1997, which ends September 30. The States with counties that collectively receive the largest amounts are: New Mexico, $11,153,023; California, $11,144,626; Arizona, $9,439,209; Utah, $9,308,159; Montana, $8,923,334; Idaho, $7,719,506; and Alaska, $6,780,950.

Below is the complete list of 1997 PILT payments by State:

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