PILT funding will help maintain critical community services in 56 Colorado counties
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet applauded the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) announcement of $47.8 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) 2024 funding for 56 Colorado counties. Each year, DOI collects revenue from commercial activities on public lands, a portion of which is shared with states and counties.
“Our public lands, and the local communities surrounding them, make Colorado a standout place to live and visit. PILT works to sustain those communities by using tax revenue generated on public lands to help counties invest in essential services like firefighting and infrastructure,” said Hickenlooper.
“Without PILT, counties across Colorado cannot provide essential services such as law enforcement, education, search and rescue, road maintenance, and public health to their residents and many visitors to our beautiful public lands,” said Bennet. “These funds will provide Colorado communities certainty and show that the federal government continues to uphold its commitment to public lands counties.”
PILT payments are made for tax-exempt federal lands administered by the Department of Interior’s bureaus, including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service, as well as lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In April 2023, Hickenlooper and Bennet called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the PILT program for fiscal year 2024.
View a full list of funding recipients HERE.
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