Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:October 14, 2011

CONTACT:    Apryl Marie Fogel 202-595-4946

Gosar Fights to Keep Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program

in Natural Resources Subcommittee Hearing

Today, Congressman Gosar (AZ-01) attended the Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands which met to address the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.  The PILT program was established in 1976 to help offset the cost to local communities of federal land holdings.  The PILT program is not well understood by many in congress whose districts do not have large federal and ownership. Therefore, keeping the PILT program and improving will be a battle.

In a statement presented to the committee Congressman Gosar said “The positive impact of PILT in Western states particularly, and more specifically in Arizona’s First District, cannot be stated enough.” 

He went on to note that “It is a crucial portion of the agreement that the federal government has made in exchange for its ownership of land in the West. A staggering 28 million acres in Arizona alone is eligible for PILT, and yet the PILT program yielded only slightly more than $31 million for Arizona counties in Fiscal Year 2011.”

Congressman Gosar was able to address concerns and discuss the future of the program with a senior official at the Department of the Interior and a public lands expert at Southern Utah University. 

The program’s authorization expires in Fiscal Year 2011 and Congressman Gosar is determined to continue fighting for the counties of Arizona’s First District to help mitigate the unique struggles they face maintaining basic services on a mix of public and private land. 

The Congressman’s full opening statement can be found attached.  

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