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Mesa County approves $100,000 PILT allocation to support 12 local fire districts
Summary
The Mesa County Board of County Commissioners approved a resolution to allocate $100,000 from Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) to 12 fire protection districts, using a GIS-based formula to apportion funds by federal acreage, with annual transfers to each district.
The Mesa County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-0 on March 10 to adopt a resolution allocating $100,000 from the county's Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds to support the county's 12 local fire protection districts.
Matt Lewis, deputy county director, told the board the proposal uses GIS to calculate the number of federal acres within each fire protection district, assigns a value to those acres and distributes funding annually to the respective district boards. "We have allocated a portion of those PILT funds to directly support our fire districts within Mesa County," Lewis said.
Commissioners praised the plan as a targeted use of PILT funds to help districts that must respond to fires on federal lands but lack a local tax base. One commissioner said the funding will create "sustainability and consistency" for rural districts that frequently serve as the initial responder until state and federal resources arrive.
The resolution does not change existing fire protection governance or alter mutual-aid arrangements; it authorizes the annual transfer of the $100,000 appropriation and directs County Finance to implement the transfers.
The board approved the resolution by a 3-0 voice vote. The item will be entered into county records and the transfers scheduled per the county's finance procedures.
