Western Senators Introduce Legislation to Provide Financial Certainty for Rural Counties

Washington, D.C. -- A bipartisan group of Western senators have introduced legislation to provide long-term financial security for rural counties.

The legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) and Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) would reauthorize the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for ten years. The program provides critical resources to nearly 1,900 counties across 49 states. Counties have used these payments for more than 40 years to fund law enforcement, firefighting, emergency response and other essential county services.

“Idaho’s rural counties depend on PILT funding for vital functions like law enforcement, emergency response, public health and critical transportation infrastructure,” said Crapo. “The federal government does not pay local property taxes, which makes rural counties containing large swaths of federally-owned land face tough financial decisions. Our legislation would provide much-needed stability to these counties so they can budget appropriately according to expected revenue and provide these essential services to local citizens and taxpayers. I look forward to continue working in a bipartisan manner to end the financial uncertainty thousands of rural counties face nationwide.”

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