| PILT - Payment 'In Lieu of'
Taxes
(Note: PILT is the carrot used in order to gain control. 100 percent is promised -- but only 55 percent is delivered. Imagine the losses to schools, roads, emergency services, etc., when the revenues drop by 45 percent to communities!) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Division of Realty Overview - National Wildlife Refuge Fund The Refuge Revenue Sharing Act, as amended, authorizes revenues and direct appropriations to be deposited into a special fund and used for payments to counties in which lands are acquired in fee or reserved from the public domain and managed by the Service. The revenues are derived from the sale or disposition of (1) products (e.g., timber and gravel); (2) other privileges (e.g., right-of-way and grazing permits); and (3) leases for public accommodations or facilities (e.g., oil and gas exploration and development) incidental to, and not in conflict with, refuge purposes. The payments to counties for Service-managed fee lands are based on a formula contained in the Act which provides for the highest of the following: (1) 25 percent of the net receipts; (2) 3/4 of 1 percent of the fair market value; or (3) 75 cents per acre. Appraisals are updated every 5 years to determine the fair market value. If the net revenues are insufficient to make full payments for fee lands according to the formula contained in the Act, direct appropriations are authorized up to an amount equal to the difference between net receipts and full entitlement. The revenue sharing payments that are made on lands reserved from the public domain and administered by the Service for fish and wildlife purposes are always 25 percent of the net receipts collected from the reserved land in the county. If no receipts are collected, no revenue sharing payment is made. However, the Bureau of Land Management makes Payment in Lieu of Taxes (31 U.S.C. 6901-6907) on all public domain lands, including Service reserved lands. The Service annually reports all of our reserved acres and the amount already paid on those acres to BLM. BLM then calculates PILT, subtracts the amount the Service already paid out on those reserved lands, and makes the PILT payment to the community. The National Wildlife Refuge Fund 2003 budget request is $14,558 million in current appropriations, including $144 thousand for a government-wide legislative proposal to shift to agencies the full cost of the CSRS pension system and the Federal employee health benefits program for current employees. With the legislative proposal, the request is $14,414 million. There is no net increase above the enacted level. (Dolllars in Thousands) 2001 Actual 2002 Estimate 2003 Estimate Program Change Expenses for Sales Receipts Collected 5,695 7,114 7,114 0 Expenses for Sales -2,574 -3,247 -3,247 - ANILCA Expense -60 -112 -112 - Net Receipts - Available 3,061 3,728 3,728 during following year Payments to Counties Receipts Available - Collected Previous 3,061 3,728 667 Current Appropriation Request 14,554 14,554 0 Total Available for Payments to Counties 17,615 18,282 667 Entitlement Level 32,000 33,000 1,000 Percent Payment 55% 55% |