Four local counties will garner a total of $101,652 in federal
funding through the payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) program.

The funding – for fiscal year 2005 – comes out of a total pool
of $226.8 million for PILT. The U.S. House of Representatives last
week approved a PILT funding level of $236 million for fiscal year
2006 as part of the larger Interior Appropriations bill.

The announcement was made by U.S. Rep. John Peterson’s, R-Pa.,
office. The legislation will now go before the Senate for
approval.

The PILT payments to local governments help offset the loss of
property taxes due to non-taxable federal lands located with the
municipalities’ boundaries, according to Peterson’s Communications
Director Chris Tucker on Monday.

“These are appropriated dollars based on acreage of federal
land,” Tucker said.

According to figures provided by Peterson’s office, McKean
County will receive $26,781 for 135,344 acres of federal land.
Meanwhile, Elk County will garner $22,156 on 111,968 acres; Forest
County, $24,109 on 121,837 acres; and Warren County, $28,606 on
144,564 acres.

The funding is separate from what local municipalities receive
from the Secure Rural Schools program, which provides guaranteed
payments to the entities from timber receipts on the Allegheny
National Forest.

The Secure Rural Schools legislation is being targeted by the
Bush administration, who would like to “ramp down” funding under
the program over the next few years and eliminate it altogether by
the year 2013, officials said in February.

The program provides much-needed extra funding to school
districts and local municipalities for housing rehabilitation,
infrastructure improvements, code enforcement and to finance
additional projects.

Municipalities will receive a total of $16,012.21 in additional
revenue from the 2005 forest timber receipts, according to figures
released in January by the county treasurer’s office.

Overall, the county will garner an additional $38,148.70 in
Title III payments, with area school districts gaining a total of
$16,414.22 in revenue. Total forest receipts for the 2005 fiscal
year were $25,844,788.06.

The federal payments plan is in sharp contrast to the debate
occurring on the state level, where local lawmakers, Rep. Martin
Causer, R-Turtlepoint, and Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, have
spearheaded legislation which would triple PILT payments on
state-owned land from $1.20 to $3.60 an acre.

The hike is being fought by the Pennsylvania Game Commission,
who said the change could jeopardize its fiscal solvency. The
lawmakers rebut that claim by saying the agency wouldn’t be looking
at a deficit if it managed its assets properly.

The measure will eventually be voted on by the full House and
would increase the commission’s annual PILT payment from $1.7 to
$5.1 million.