Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) announced that the Department of the Interior (DOI) had awarded $29,146,696 under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program to rural counties in Nevada for Fiscal Year 2022.
“Rural counties across Nevada rely on PILT payments to support local law enforcement and first responders and to fund housing, education, and conservation projects that strengthen our communities,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I’ve worked throughout my time in Congress to stabilize and support the PILT program because I’ve seen firsthand how vital it is for rural Nevadans.”
“These PILT payments will allow many of Nevada’s rural communities to afford essential services, including those provided by first responders,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m glad to see that communities across Nevada will receive over $29 million in funds this year, and I will continue working to ensure Nevada receives its fair share of federal resources.”
PILT payments are federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to non-taxable federal lands within those governments’ boundaries. PILT payments help local governments carry out such vital services as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations. The payments are made annually for tax-exempt federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (all agencies of the Department of the Interior), the U.S. Forest Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture), and federal water projects and some military installations.
Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen have been champions of the PILT program, and they have repeatedly called for a long-term solution to secure PILT program for the future. Both Senators are also cosponsors of the Small County PILT Parity Act, legislation that would modify the PILT formula so that counties with populations under 5,000 would receive increased PILT payments.
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