Utah got $32 million in '08 PILT payments

Counties in Utah and throughout the country received an additional $138 million in fiscal year 2008 for what the government calls payments in lieu of taxes, Interior Department figures showed Thursday. That bumped total so-called PILT payments to over $367 million for the year.

The extra money came from the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which President George W. Bush signed Oct. 3. Combined payments in June and November marks the first time since 1994 states have received their full payments in lieu of taxes. Through 2012 PILT payments counties receive will reflect the full entitlement levels for counties and local jurisdictions.

The total FY2008 payments for Utah exceeded $32 million, ranking it in the top five highest states behind New Mexico ($36 million) and California ($33 million). Before President Bush essentially authorized the full PILT payment, Utah would have received only about $20 million.

Counties eligible for the payments have national forests or parks, Bureau of Land Management public lands or land set aside for water resource development. Counties in Utah with the highest payments were Washington, Uintah and Box Elder at over $2 million each and Tooele County at over $3 million.

Population and the number of acres of federal entitlement land factor into how much counties receive. The money is intended to be used by counties for education, firefighting, transportation and emergency response.