WASHINGTON — The House approved a nearly $20 million increase to the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes fund Tuesday, which could mean bigger PILT payments to Utah next year.

PILT funds make up for lost property taxes on federal lands within the state. The Interior Department spending bill, debated Tuesday, had $233 million set aside for PILT payments in 2008, but the amendment brings it up to roughly $252 million.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, offered the amendment with support from Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah.

"Many vital services provided by counties, including law enforcement and search and rescue, are paid for with this money," Matheson said. "At a time when local budgets are stretched so thin, it's imperative that we maintain our commitment."

Last week, the Interior Department distributed the 2007 PILT payments. Salt Lake County received $126,531 for 96,311 acres, up just $217 from the 2006 payment, according to the Interior Department.

If the new amount becomes law, the delegation hopes to see Utah's numbers go up next year.

"We have to lessen the local burden of federal land ownership, and this amendment does just that," Bishop said. "When a majority of their lands are locked away, our counties struggle to produce enough revenue just to survive and provide essential services. PILT is simply a small effort to right this huge wrong. We were successful last year in joining with our Western colleagues and increasing PILT funding and I'm glad we could do it again. It's still not enough, but we are moving in the right direction."

Cannon said the money fulfills a federal "promise."

"Utah has one of the highest percentages of land owned by the federal government and as a result receives far less in tax revenues," Cannon said. "Until we can inventory federal land holdings and transfer surplus and underutilized federal lands to the states, PILT funding must reach levels necessary to fulfill the promises the government has made to the West."

The spending bill also includes $2 billion for the operating and maintenance of the National Parks system, $2.8 billion to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for fighting wildfires and $50 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund state grants program, according to Matheson's office.

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