Number: 1999-06
WHEREAS, the federal government has a legal commitment to make annual payments to counties, called Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), in order to compensate for federal land and associated impacts within the counties and these funds are, among other purposes, used to maintain roads that provide recreational access to public land and streams and to help fund local schools; and
WHEREAS, in recent years the Congress and Administration have chosen not to allocate the full dollar amount of PILT payments resulting in significantly reduced payments to counties and diminishing the counties’ ability to provide such items as adequate school funding and safe and reasonable recreational access to federal lands; and
WHEREAS, failure to make full PILT payments discourages local governments from supporting appropriate federal land acquisitions because of fear of declining tax revenues; and
WHEREAS, the federal government often provides a percentage of revenue from commodity production rather than PILT payments as a basis for compensating counties; and
WHEREAS, linking commodity production to payments to counties creates strong incentives for counties to support high levels of commodity extraction, even if the un-sustainability of that extraction puts counties and the resource at risk in the long run; and
WHEREAS, PILT, or a PILT-like plan, can provide a stable, predictable level of funding, while commodity revenues can fluctuate dramatically depending on market factors operating at national and international scales; and
WHEREAS, putting all counties on a fair and equitable PILT-like plan would provide a stable funding base while relieving counties from the pressure to support inappropriate levels of commodity production;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 18-21, 1999, in Houston, Texas, encourages Congress and the Administration to compensate all counties containing federal lands through Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) or comparable plans not based on revenues, fully fund the PILT programs consistent with their legal commitment, and eliminate the payments to counties based on resource revenues.