Nevada counties to share $13.1 million from feds

Ben Grove

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's 17 counties will share $13.1 million from the federal government as part of the 2003 "payment in lieu of taxes" program.

The 26-year-old program each year aims to compensate states that contain federal land. Because the states are not collecting county or other local property taxes on the land, the federal government pays states what is commonly referred to as PILT money.

"The PILT program is one of the key ways that the federal government can be a good neighbor to local communities," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a written statement. "These payments help fund law enforcement, hospitals and schools, firefighting, and other vital services that local governments provide."

The $13.1 million represents a $1.6 million increase from last fiscal year. The PILT money was approved as part of the 2003 federal budget finalized by by Congress earlier this year.

Clark County will receive $1,811,804. The county received $1,579,548 last year.

Clark County was the No. 2 PILT recipient; Washoe County will receive $1,817,966.

The Bureau of Land Management, which administers the PILT program, will send more than $218 million in PILT money to nearly 1,900 local governments, according to the agency. That's an increase of about $8.8 million, despite proposed cuts by President Bush that lawmakers did not approve.

The BLM calculates payments with a formula based on population and the amount of a county's federal land.

The PILT program has been the subject of efforts supported by Nevada lawmakers that would make the PILT program an automatic annual entitlement program, as opposed to being subject to the annual spending whims of Congress and vulnerable to cuts.

"In the future I would like to see legislation enacted that will permanently provide and greatly increase PILT funding for Nevada," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said.