Next week, RCRC Second Vice Chair Randy Hanvelt (Tuolumne) and RCRC Board Member Kevin Cann (Mariposa) will be traveling with RCRC staff to Washington, D.C. for the National Association of Counties 2017 Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Fly-In to continue advocacy efforts in support of the Federal PILT program. Federal PILT provides payments to counties to help offset losses in property tax revenues due to nontaxable federal lands within their jurisdictions.
Federal PILT was last reauthorized as part of the federal budget resolution in April 2016, which provided $485 million to help support a variety of county activities and programs. While California’s counties received their 2016 Federal PILT authorization in April 2017, future Federal PILT payments – including this years – will need to be secured through the federal budget process. RCRC will continue to advocate for a multi-year reauthorization, and will urge congress to take action to reauthorize the program for 2018 before the end of the federal government’s fiscal year on September 30, 2017.