Clark County has received $1,330 from the U.S. Department of the Interior Payments in Lieu of Taxes program for 2016.
The county was one of more than 1,900 local governments around the country getting $451.6 million this year — the largest amount ever allocated under the program.
Skamania County received $306,000. Cowlitz County received a little more than $11,400. Washington state received a little less than $20.5 million.
Payments in lieu of taxes are compensation to counties and local governments that forgo property taxes due to nontaxable federal land including national forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, waterways and other public lands in their jurisdictions.
In Skamania County, where most of the land is owned by the government, federal transfer payments have been a major component of budgets for county governments and local schools, though the payments have been threatened with elimination in recent years.
“Rural communities contribute significantly to our nation’s economy, food and energy supply, and help define the character of our diverse and beautiful country,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a news release. “These investments often serve as a lifeline for local communities as they juggle planning and paying for basic services like public safety, housing, social services and transportation.”
The payments are determined by a statute-defined formula based on population and the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction.
The Interior Department collects more than $11 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands, which includes oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing and timber harvesting. Some of the revenue is given to states and counties. The rest is deposited with the U.S. Treasury, which pays for payments in lieu of taxes funding to counties.
Payments vary each year based on land holdings, population data and prior year federal revenue-sharing payments reported yearly by state governors.
