Nevada to receive $23 million in PILT funding

November 20, 2008

Washington, DC— Nevada Senator Harry Reid today announced that the Department of the Interior has distributed an additional $138.7 million to the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.  Combined with the June 2008 payment of $228.5 million, total PILT payments for this year equal $367.2 million – the first time PILT has been fully funded since 1994.  Nevada's total share of this money is nearly $23 million.  Reid, a resident of rural Nevada himself, led the charge to include full funding of PILT through 2012 as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act passed by Congress.

"Last January, I made a promise to fully fund the PILT program for the first time since its inception," said Reid.  "It was an uphill battle, but I am pleased that we were able to deliver on my promise to rural Nevada.  In this time of economic uncertainty, full funding of this program is especially important for Nevada's small communities."
 
PILT payments help to lesson the financial burden that rural governments face because of lost tax revenue due to extensive federal land.  Nevada, having 85-percent of land owned by the federal government, will greatly benefit from the full funding of this program.

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