Columbia County to receive $385,583 in PILT funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 21, eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) announced the 2019 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program disbursements totaling more than $3.5 million for eastern Washington counties.

Because local governments are unable to tax the property values or products derived from federal lands, PILT payments help support necessary government services such as education, solid waste disposal, law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, fire-fighting, parks and recreation and other important community services.

“Many counties here in Eastern Washington rely on PILT funding to provide basic services. Due to the loss of potential tax revenues on federal lands in affected areas, PILT funds from the Department of Interior help rural counties, who are already faced with financial uncertainty, keep their doors open. I was proud to lead in reauthorizing this program and thank the Department of the Interior for allocating this funding to provide certainty to eastern Washington counties and rural America,” McMorris Rodgers said in a media release.

The formula used to compute payments is based on population, revenue sharing payments, and the amount of Federal land within the county. Disbursements to eastern Washington counties in 2019 are:

Asotin County: $57,829

Columbia County: $385,583

Ferry County: $810,960

Garfield County: $234,090

Lincoln County: $244,852

Pend Oreille County: $1,082,483

Spokane County: $5,635

Stevens County: $607,964

Walla Walla County: $29,891

Whitman County: $58,733