Department of the Interior announces PILT funding total of over $621 million will be distributed to counties

Key Takeaways

On June 26, the Department of the Interior (Department) announced that more than 1,900 state and local governments around the country will receive a total of $621.2 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2024. A complete list of funding by state and county is available here. You can also check NACo’s County Explorer to see detailed county-by-county information on PILT funding levels.

This funding level is an increase of $42.4 million in PILT payments from last year.

Payments may vary from year to year because of:

• Changes in acreage data, which are updated annually by the federal agency administering the land
• Prior-year federal revenue-sharing payments reported annually by the governor of each state
• Inflationary adjustments using the Consumer Price Index and population data, which are updated using information from the U.S. Census Bureau

NACo’s longstanding advocacy for full funding of PILT ensures counties see these funds come through every year.

Here is what NACo is doing to maintain full funding for the PILT program in FY2025 Appropriations: 

• Hosting the PILT Fly-In in Washington, D.C. from September 11-13 where county officials will advocate for the program and other vital public lands priorities
• Cooperating with our federal partners in Congress to secure the inclusion of full funding for PILT and crucial amendments to the funding formula in the Interior Appropriations bill

Secure Rural Schools (SRS), also a key federal policy priority for NACo, is another federal payment-in-lieu program managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in concert with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS):

• While these payments are similar to the PILT program, they come from the lack of timber receipts from the federally-managed forests instead of property taxes
• As it stands, the SRS program has lapsed and counties are set to not receive this key funding for rural school districts and critical infrastructure
• NACo continues to work with congressional offices to secure the passage of SRS through any upcoming legislative vehicle
   

The Department collects more than $22.2 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands. A portion of those revenues is shared with states and counties. The balance is deposited into the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding. No exact disbursement date has been announced, but NACo will notify counties once that date is released.