Bonner County joins call for 2015 PILT funding

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners are joining the National Association of Counties in urging members of Congress to approve funding for the Payment In Lieu of Taxes program before the year’s end.

The PILT program provides payments to counties in the West with lands owned by the federal government, which are not subject to property tax.

More than 65 percent of Idaho and more than 43 percent of Bonner County is comprised of federal lands.

Bonner County received $625,832 in PILT funding in 2014. A similar program, Secure Rural Schools, provided an additional $413,464.

Collectively, the two funding sources provided more than $1 million in annual budget revenue that did not come from property taxes.

“Without PILT and SRS funding, counties and local property owners would be burdened with funding vital public services related to federal public lands beyond the means of the local property tax base,” commissioners Cary Kelly, Mike Nielsen and Glen Bailey said in a news release.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations released 2015 Interior and Environment Bill in July.

The legislation includes $442 million in PILT funding.

NACo and the Bonner County commission are calling on Idaho’s federal delegation to secure immediate funding for the PILT program.

“Without swift congressional action, our county and communities across the country could face devastating budget shortfalls or tax increases to support mandated county services,” commissioners said in the press release.

“Our county provides ongoing services for federal public lands, and members of Congress must support these services.”

Nationally, the PILT program provides $437 million to approximately 1,900 counties and local governments to offset foregone tax revenue due to the presence of substantial acreage of federal land in their jurisdictions.