Larry Craig: “I rise to express my strongest support of S. 455, the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act of 1993 [PILT]. The current PILT…”

“I rise to express my strongest support of S. 455, the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act of 1993 [PILT]. The current PILT legislation was enacted in 1976. The payments made under that act have never been adjusted for inflation since the bill was enacted. That is simply unacceptable. Costs to operate the rural counties have continued to rise, and this legislation intends to help those counties. In my State of Idaho 63 percent of the land--nearly 34 million acres--is owned by the Federal Government. There are no local property taxes assessed on these lands. Yet public use of the Federal lands has increased dramatically during the same period, and that places a financial burden on local government.”