County sees slightly larger federal PILT check this year

Washington County will see a small increase in the annual Payment in Lieu of Taxes proceeds from the federal government this year.
 A total of 1,900 local governments across the country received funds from the $514.7 million appropriated by Congress for the PILT program for fiscal year 2020.  
 The payments go mostly to western states to help offset the loss in property taxes from nontaxable public lands within their borders.
 Washington County’s payment will total $858,715 in 2020, representing an increase of about $11,000 over the 2019 payment of $847,486.
 Although higher than last year, the 2020 payment to the county is still less than the 2018 PILT amount of $920,135.
 The 2020 payment to Washington County was based on 340,642 acres of public land within the county, which didn’t change from the number of acres in 2019. The 2018 payment was based on 340,676 acres of public land.
 A total of $33.7 million was paid to Idaho’s 44 counties in 2020. The amount is up from $32.2 million in 2019.
 The largest single payment to any one county in Idaho went to Elmore County, which received $2.6 million in PILT funds based on 1.35 million acres of public land.
 The formula used to figure the payments is contained in the PILT legislation and is based on population, receipt sharing payments and the amount of federal land within a county. PILT payments are renewed on a year-to-year basis so the amount can vary.
 The National Association of Counties has urged members of Congress to continue to fund PILT at the full amount. The current funding for PILT is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2020.
 Without congressional action to reauthorize PILT for FY 2021 and into the future, counties could face budget shortfalls that will impact their ability to provide essential services to residents and visitors, NACO said.
 PILT funds from the Department of Interior help county governments in rural areas of the West carry out services like firefighting and law enforcement protection, construction of public schools and roads and search-and-rescue operations.
 Washington County commissioners have used the PILT money in the last couple of years to cover budget shortfalls and augment the county’s justice fund, which includes county law enforcement, the courts, and a couple of other departments.