On June 26, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced more than 1,900 state and local governments around the country will receive a total of $621.2 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2024. California received approximately $64.3 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes in Fiscal Year 2024. Approximately $42.9 million of those funds have gone to RCRC counties. See a breakdown of payments by county here.
Because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT payments help to defray the costs associated with maintaining important community services. PILT payments are made for tax-exempt federal lands administered by the Department’s bureaus including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, PILT payments cover federal lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission. Payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of that county or jurisdiction.