A related problem is that special interest groups have persuaded Congress to give them a share of BLM revenues, and they lobby hard to keep those privileges. History of Federal Land Management From the founding of the nation, the federal government began accumulating large tracts of land. The United States gained all lands south of Canada, east of the Mississippi River, and north of Florida with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. In the 1780s and 1790s the states were persuaded to cede their large western land claims to the new federal government.5 Alexander Hamilton, for example, championed the federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts in exchange for the states giving up their western land claims. Federal lands greatly expanded in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase from France. Federal lands further expanded in 1846 when the United States and Britain agreed to divide the Oregon territory at the 49th parallel, and again in 1848 with the area acquired in the Southwest from Mexico. Little of the land in any of these areas was claimed by private settlers, thus nearly all of the land from the Appalachians to the Pacific Ocean, except for Texas, was once owned by the federal government. As the federal government was accumulating land, it was also trying to unload it. The governments general policy for more than a century was to sell or transfer its western lands to settlers, railroad companies, and state governments. In 1810 Congress created the General Land Office, whose primary job was to dispose of federal lands in the West. Initially, the General Land Office was in the State Department, but in 1849 Congress created the Department of the Interior to manage the vast federal estate. Some federal lands were granted to states upon statehood, while other lands were given to the builders of roads, railroads, and other infrastructure.6 Veterans were given land for war service, and the 1862 Homestead Act offered settlers up to 160 acres of free land if they lived on the land for five years and made improvements. By 1900 about half of the land in the 11 western states, and almost all land between those states and the Appalachians, had been unloaded. With the rise of the Progressive movement at the turn of the 20th century, federal policy began to change toward land retention and land additions. Progressives believed that federal agencies would manage western lands better than states, businesses, or individuals. In his book Public Lands and Private Rights, Robert H. Nelson explores the history of federal land ownership, and he describes how the Progressive ideas of scientific management and federal planning have failed repeatedly.7 The last century of federal land management has been filled with laws that had lofty purposes and achieved dismal results, he concludes.8 - See more at: downsizinggovernment.org/interior/reforming-federal-land... The BLM issues Payments in lieu of Taxes: Payments in Lieu of Taxes (or PILT) are Federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to non-taxable Federal lands within their boundaries. The key law is Public Law 94-565, dated October 20, 1976. This law was rewritten and amended by Public Law 97-258 on September 13, 1982 and codified at Chapter 69, Title 31 of the United States Code. The Law recognizes that the inability of local governments to collect property taxes on Federally-owned land can create a financial impact. 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 BLM, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (all agencies of the Interior Department), the U.S. Forest Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture), and for Federal water projects and some military installations. PILT payments are one of the ways that the Federal government can fulfill its role of being a good neighbor to local communities. The Department of the Interiors (DOI) Office of the Secretary has administrative authority over the PILT program. In addition to other responsibilities, DOI calculates payments according to the formulas established by law and distributes the available funds. Applicable DOI regulations pertaining to the PILT program were published as a final rule in the Federal Register on December 7, 2004 The formula used to compute the payments is contained in the PILT Act and is based on population, receipt sharing payments, and the amount of Federal land within an affected county. PILT payments are in addition to other Federal revenues (such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing, and timber harvesting) that the Federal Government transfers to the States. The DOI has distributed more than $6.3 billion dollars in PILT payments to States (except Rhode Island), as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands since these payments began in 1977. doi.gov/pilt/index.cfm Just how lucrative is the PILT to the States? doi.gov/pilt/state-payments.cfm?fiscal_yr=2013&as_sf... It is interesting to note, these payments were signed into law by Republican Gerald Ford in October, 1976. Also, it should be noted that the House Farm bill that was just signed into law authorized the continuation of these payments. The BML page states: 2/07/2014: The President signed the Agricultural Act of 2014 (H.R. 2642 / Public Law 113-79) which included funding of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program for Fiscal Year 2014. doi.gov/pilt/index.cfm The BLM issued this press release last year: (I guess it wasnt news worthy) Interior Announces Nearly $400 Million in PILT Payments to Rural Communities for Police, Fire and Schools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Underscores President’s Initiative to Strengthen Rural Communities, Calls on Congress to Extend PILT Program 06/13/2013 As Part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to rural communities, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that about 1,900 local governments around the Nation are receiving a total of $399.8 million under the 2013 Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The PILT program compensates counties and local governments for non-taxable federal land in their jurisdictions. The 2013 authorized level is $421.7 million, which was reduced by $21.5 million due to sequestration. After administrative expenses, a total of $399.8 million is allocated for payments to counties. A full list of funding by state and county is available atdoi.gov/pilt. “Rural communities are a pillar of a strong America, contributing significantly to the nation’s security, prosperity and economic strength,” Secretary Jewell said. “President Obama has made job creation and opportunity in rural areas a top priority for his Administration and has fought for continuing the PILT program to compensate and support local governments.” “These PILT payments will help local governments carry out vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search and rescue operations. They will keep essential public employees on the job,” added Jewell. “President Obama has proposed to fully fund the PILT program in FY 2014, and we encourage Congress to take the required action to make sure this important program continues.” PILT program eligibility is reserved for local governments (mostly rural counties) that contain non-taxable federal lands and provide vital services, such as public safety, housing, social services and transportation. These jurisdictions provide significant support for national parks, wildlife refuges and recreation areas throughout the year. PILT seeks to compensate them for their support and foregoing tax revenue from these federal lands. This year’s PILT program is the last to be funded under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (P.L. 112-141), which reauthorized PILT for 2013 and funded full entitlement levels of the program. From 2008 through 2012, the program was funded under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The President’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposes to extend mandatory full funding for the program for another year while a sustainable long-term funding solution is developed for the PILT program. The Interior Department collects about $14 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on federal lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing and timber harvesting. A portion of these revenues are shared with states and counties in the form of revenue-sharing payments. The balance is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding to counties. Using a formula provided by statute, the annual PILT payments to local governments are computed based on the number of acres of federal entitlement land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of that county or jurisdiction. The lands include the National Forest and National Park Systems, the areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, those affected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation water resource development projects, and others. Individual county payments may vary from the prior year as a result of changes in acreage data, which is updated yearly by the federal agency administering the land, prior year Federal Revenue Sharing payments reported yearly by the governor of each state, and population data, which is updated using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Federal Revenue Sharing payments are made to local governments under programs other than PILT during the previous fiscal year. Payments include those made under the Refuge Revenue Sharing Fund, the National Forest Fund and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, among others. By statute, the per acre and population variables used in the formula to compute payment amounts are subject to annual inflationary adjustments using the Consumer Price Index. The requirement for annual inflationary adjustments to the per acre and population variables was included in the 1994 amendments to the PILT Act. For purposes of calculating the 2013 payment, the 2012 per acre amounts are adjusted from $2.47 per acre and $0.34 per acre to $2.54 and $0.35 per acre, and the population variables are adjusted from $66.49 - $166.21 to $68.45 - $171.11 per capita.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 17:56:34 +0000
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