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Sequester Cuts PILT Payments to Rural Counties

Dan Bammes

  Rural counties in Utah will get less money this year from the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, or PILT.  The federal government provides the funding to counties with large areas of public land.  Garfield County has more than two million acres of federal land, but this year it will get just over $800,000 dollars from the PILT program.

County Commissioner Leland Pollocksays providing services on federal land is a burden on local taxpayers.

“When you figure the, all of the issues we deal with as far as emergency services, law enforcement, infrastructure, that is not even close to what we need,” Pollock tells KUER.

Thanks to the federal sequester, PILT payments will be about two percent lower than they were last year.  In all, Utah will get about 35-million dollars.

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