County nabs additional PILT money

MONTROSE — A controversial financial bail-out package last week included some perks for Montrose County, in the form of full funding of PILT. And, from the county's perspective, the good news keeps on coming.

Wednesday, the county learned the approved money for Payment In Lieu of Taxes will be retroactive for one fiscal year, giving its general fund an unexpected boost.

"It's significant, especially right now, when everything's kind of closing down on us right here," Commissioner Bill Patterson said Wednesday.

Counties receive Payment In Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, money from a federal pot, to compensate for taxes they cannot collect on federal lands within their boundaries.

In Montrose County, nearly 1 million acres are federal land. Under partial funding, it received about $1.2 million; full funding will provide about $1.9 million.

The county now expects an additional payment for the difference between the two amounts, which will swell the coffers by more than $728,000. That payment is slated for disbursement early next year.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act that bailed out Wall Street also included a funding increase for the Secure Rural Schools program. According to U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., Colorado's funding under that program increases by nearly 200 percent. Payments will be made between fiscal years 2008 and 2011; the state will determine each county's cut of the money.

The money for Secure Rural Schools comes from a 25-percent share of certain receipts from the National Forest Service, which also can be used to fund roads. Those receipts have been in declined since the 1990s, due to declines in federal timber sales.

"With the economy hitting county budgets hard, the full funding of PILT and Secure Rural Schools programs could not come at a better time," Salazar said in a news release.

"These funds will shore up budgets for schools in small towns, will allow counties to maintain their roads and will fund other critical services for rural communities.

"This new law means that the government will finally have to pay its fair share to Colorado communities that have non-taxable federal land in their local jurisdictions."

Other counties in the region will also see a bump in PILT payments.

Delta, whose initial PILT allocation was just over $171,000, will increase to $274,953, entitling that county to a make-up payment of $103,932. Gunnison County's allotment increases from $326,844 to $525,473 and Hinsdale's rises from $728,240 to $125,788. Ouray's increases from $208,499 to $335,207.