Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto successfully advocated for the state to receive more than $31 million for rural counties to use within the fiscal year 2023. The money comes from the Department of Interior to fund Nevada’s Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. These federal payments are to support local governments in offsetting the losses in property taxes of nontaxable lands within the counties’ boundaries.
Seventeen counties within Nevada received PILT payments ranging from $45,546 (Storey County) to $4.2 million (Washoe County). Mineral County received $870,863.
PILT payments help Nevada counties perform necessary services such as: law enforcement, fire fighting protection, building schools, constructing roads, and search and rescue operations. Payments are made annually through tax-exempt federal lands agencies such as the National Park Service, BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, and other federal water projects and military installations.
In the past, one hundred percent of Mineral County’s PILT payments were derived from Section 6902 of Nevada law, which authorizes payment for “entitlement lands” which are lands within the county that are part of the National Forest System, Bureau of Land Management, National Park System, or federal water resource development.
Both Senators Rosen and Cortez Masto have cosponsored the Small County PILT Parity Act, legislation that would amend the PILT formula to give counties with populations under 5,000 people more PILT money. The population of Mineral County is around 4,500 people.
“I’ve always championed this program to support rural Nevada counties pay their firefighters and police officers, repair aging infrastructure, and fund education and conservation projects,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I’m glad to see even more funding headed to Nevada this year, I’ll continue to protect this program, and will always advocate for our rural counties to receive the resources they need.”
“With the majority of Nevada’s land under federal management, it’s critical that communities in our state receive PILT payments to provide essential services, including paying law enforcement and first responders. I’m glad to see that dozens of local governments in Nevada will receive over $31 million through PILT this year, and I will fight to ensure rural communities in Nevada continue to receive their fair share of funding,” Senator Rosen added.
