PC Commissioner Lesley Robinson DC Report

Commissioner Lesley Robinson joined the National Association of Counties (NACo) in Washington DC September 7 to September 9 to urge members of Congress to support a full investment in the Payment in Lieu to Taxes (PILT) program. PILT is a program to offset the absence of property tax revenue from federal lands in the affected counties.

Commissioner Robinson was joined by Commissioner Greg Chilcott of Ravalli County Montana and Commissioner Ronnie Beale of North Carolina in her group. There were around 20 commissioners from various counties throughout the United States. The various groups accomplished 60 Congressional visits in one day, along with a PILT briefing for Congressional staff to attend.

Part of our message was the services that counties provide to support our residents and visitors to federal public lands. The counties provide law enforcement, road maintenance and search and rescue for instance. Without the PILT program these services would be more difficult to fund. Without Congressional action there could be significant shortfalls in county budgets across the United States.

We were also able to have conversations with Department of Interior staff and Forest Service staff to discuss solutions for long term funding of PILT.