Utah feels tepid over in-lieu $$

WASHINGTON — State and local governments in Utah will be receiving about $19.6 million from the federal government — a $500,000 increase in the state's annual share of payments in lieu of taxes (PILT).

Still, Utah's congressmen say, the state is entitled to, and deserves, more.

"Rural counties badly need these funds to provide a range of vital services to residents and visitors alike," said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, "and I will continue to push for full funding of the PILT program, as was originally authorized by Congress."

Since its enactment as a program to compensate counties with large blocks of federal land that cannot be taxed, the PILT program has never been fully funded by Congress. Lawmakers are currently debating a 2006 budget that calls for about 80 percent funding of the program.

"While the modest increase over last year's funding is good news, the fact remains that Utah and every other state should be receiving the fully authorized level of PILT funding, not some fraction," said Rep. Chris Cannon , R-Utah.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, agreed the increased funding is a move in the right direction, "but it's still not enough. I am glad that we are beginning to win the debate that this isn't welfare for the West; it's rent due our counties and states for the huge tracts of federal lands in our area."

Bishop added, "These counties deserve the money, and, quite honestly, deserve the land. We will continue to fight to get them more of these much-needed resources and eventually more local ownership and control of the land."

Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced last week that PILT funds for 2005 totaled $226.4 million, the state and local share of $12.9 billion collected by the federal government from oil and gas leases, livestock grazing and timber harvesting.

"We are pleased to provide these payments that help states offset the loss of tax revenues to counties that contain federal lands," Norton said in a prepared statement. "This money will help pay for essential services such as firefighting, search-and-rescue operations and a host of other badly needed on-the-ground services."

The money is collected from commercial activities on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service and some military installations.

PILT monies are typically used by the counties for schools, road improvements, water systems, health services and recreational projects; the federal government imposes no restrictions on how local governments spend the money.

In Utah, a special board has been appointed that allocates the money based on project proposals by the counties.