David Durenberger: “I rise today to offer my strong support for the proposed amendments to the Payments in Lieu of Taxes [PILT] Program. I…”

“I rise today to offer my strong support for the proposed amendments to the Payments in Lieu of Taxes [PILT] Program. I would like to start out by thanking my friend and colleague from Oregon, Senator Hatfield, for all his hard work on this bill. I am an original cosponsor and an active promoter of S. 455, because I believe it will go a long way toward correcting inequities that for many years have existed between counties in my own State of Minnesota and the Federal Government. Enacted in 1976, the PILT Program provides compensation to county governments that have tax-exempt programs or contain Federal lands-- like national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges--and Bureau of Land Management [BLM] lands within their boundaries. More than 1,700 counties throughout 49 States benefit from this program, including many in Minnesota. PILT funds help county governments meet the real and growing needs of their citizens for education, transportation, health care, law enforcement, waste disposal, and many other essential services. The payments are an extremely important source of revenue for counties which are continually asked to provide increased services despite diminishing budgets. Unfortunately, though the Consumer Price Index has increased by 120 percent since 1976, the program's authorization level has not. Over the past 17 years, the value of PILT has eroded to less than half its original worth, creating yet another unfunded mandate on local governments.”