For Immediate Release:  Wednesday, September 20
Contact: Sheri Bell 303.239.3670

BLM Distributes Almost $134 Million in "PILT" Checks to Local Governments for Tax-Exempt Lands

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on September 20 sent payments for 2000 totaling $134 million to approximately 1,977 local government units across the United States in accordance with the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt announced that this year's payment is nearly $9 million more than last year's total, which was $125 million.

The BLM, 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.

According to BLM Director Tom Fry, PILT payments carry out an especially important role for the BLM, which manages more land than any other Federal agency. "Through PILT payments, local governments carry out vital services such as firefighting and police protection, and construction of public schools and roads," Fry said.

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. The BLM allocates according to a formula in the PILT Act that includes population and the amount of Federal land within an affected county. These payments are in addition to other Federal revenues (such as, livestock grazing, and timber harvesting) that the Federal Government transfers to the counties. The BLM has distributed more than two billion dollars in PILT payments to local governments since these payments began in 1977.

All States (except Rhode Island) -- plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands -- are receiving PILT funds for Fiscal Year 2000, which ends September 30. The States with counties that collectively receive the largest amounts are: California, $14,277,119; New Mexico, $12,323,237; Arizona, $11,005,635; Montana, $10,109,778; Utah, $10,411,528; Colorado, 10,296,073; and Alaska, $9,086,284.

The following is a county-by-county breakdown of Colorado's 2000 PILT payments.

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