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Senate urges Congress to fully fund PILT payments for counties
Summary
Senators passed SCR6 calling on Congress to fully fund Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and to fund multi‑year PILT allocations to give counties predictable revenue for budgeting, emphasizing the heavy share of federal land in many rural counties.
The Utah Senate approved First Substitute SCR6, a concurrent resolution asking Congress to fully fund Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and to provide multi‑year funding to allow counties to budget responsibly.
Senator Okerlund said many Utah counties rely on PILT because federal land can make up the majority of county acreage; he cited examples where federal lands comprise more than 90 percent of some rural counties, leaving limited local tax base and tight budgets. He said the federal formula pays “33¢–66¢ an acre,” which he called insufficient.
Senators from rural counties urged stronger federal action; Senator Dabakis called the current PILT arrangement an “outrage” and urged a unified message to Washington. Questions from the floor included whether appraisals or higher compensation could be sought; the sponsor said Western delegations were pursuing increased PILT amounts.
The resolution passed on a roll call recorded in the transcript (26 ayes, 0 nays, 3 absent) and was read for a third time.
