Municipal governments in the four-county region will realize
more than $157,000 in payments in lieu of taxes on state gameland,
the Game Commission announced on Tuesday.
The municipalities – including the county, school districts and
townships – will get the funding by Sept. 1. It will be equally
divided between the three entities.
McKean County will see a slight increase from last year in
payments and acreage, due to the agency buying more property.
Conversely, neighboring Elk County will drop more than $1,000 in
PILT payments, the largest amount across the area, due to the
agency selling property across the county.
All told, the total PILT revenue across the area is down $935.09
from last year, according to figures supplied by the Game
Commission. Statewide, the agency will dish out $1.71 million in
PILT; it owns land in 65 of the state’s 67 counties.
According to Game Commission Executive Director Carl Roe, the
PILT payments ” … are an economic asset and an environmental
benefit to many communities.”
“Most Pennsylvanians who are aware of state game lands, and the
greater good they provide, are grateful to have them,” Roe
said.
Eventually, the PILT payments could rise substantially due to
legislation introduced by state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint,
and state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, which hikes the payments
from the current $1.20 an acre to $3.60 an acre.
However, the legislation, which was signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in
July, will take some time to go into effect. It must wait for funds
to become available in the state Gaming Control Board’s state
gaming fund – which essentially uses gaming revenue to cover the
cost of PILT – before local municipalities will be able to rely on
the additional $2.40 an acre in revenue.
“It’s frustrating,” Causer said of the wait to receive the
additional funding. “But, at least with this, we know it’s coming.
The problem is we don’t know when. I would love to see it
immediately because the communities need it so badly.”
Looking at the figures closer, McKean County is slated to
receive $30,063.57 in PILT funding for 25,052.97 acres of state
gameland, according to the Game Commission.
The funding level is up $88.06 from last year, when the county
garnered $29,975.51 on 24,979.59 acres of land – or an increase of
73.38 acres.
Meanwhile, Elk County will realize the largest decrease in PILT
payments – $1,023.15 – from $90,299.58 last year to $89,276.43.
Conversely, the county will also see the largest slide in acreage –
852.63 – from 75,249.65 to 74,397.02 acres.
In neighboring Cameron County, the figures indicate $15,555.72
will be allocated in PILT revenue on 12,963.1 acres of land; the
figures are identical to last year.
Lastly, Potter County figures will remain stagnant from last
year, with $22,435.59 in PILT payments and 18,696.32 acres.
Also, Warren and Forest counties will also receive the same
payments from last year – $44,907.84 and $8,576.04, respectively.
The acreage will remain at 37,423.21 for Warren and 7,146.7 in
Forest.
“The days of the Game Commission buying large chunks of property
are long gone,” Game Commission Press Secretary Jerry Feaser said
on Tuesday. “In addition to being cost prohibitive, we focus
primarily on addressing indentures or interior holdings (of
land).
“We are trying to make gamelands more whole so we avoid
conflicts such as somebody wanting to build a house in the middle
of gamelands because they hold a parcel inside it,” Feaser added.
“Now, we acquire property that can help improve public access to
gamelands instead of people crossing private property.”
Feaser said the agency is in “a willing buyer, willing seller
position. We don’t use imminent domain to buy land.”
The land that was sold will likely now return to the tax
rolls.
