Nevada to get $25 million for lost taxes on federal lands

Nevada will get $25,632,826 this year under the federal PILT program.

PILT stands for Payments In Lieu of Taxes. The program is designed to compensate states that have a disproportionate percentage of federally owned land within their borders. Those states, primarily western states, are impacted because they can’t collect taxes on federal lands.

PILT money is designated to help cover the cost of services including law enforcement and fire fighting primarily in rural areas.

In Nevada, the federal government owns 84.9 percent of Nevada lands, most of it under the control of the Bureau of Land Management. That’s the highest percentage of federal land ownership of any state in the nation and a total of 56.7 million acres.

Nevada is followed by Utah, Idaho and Alaska, which are all more than 60 percent federally owned.

Nationwide, PILT payments will total $451.6 million this fiscal year.

Within Nevada, Elko will receive the largest amount of any county — $3,485,682 — followed by Washoe County at $3,470,890.

Storey County gets the smallest check at just $37,617, followed by Carson City at $107,166. Douglas County’s payment will be $657,428 this year while Lyon County will see a check for $2,091,543.

The payments are based on a formula that includes the county’s population and the amount of federal land within its borders. Since the law was passed in 1976, PILT has distributed more than $7 billion to the 1,900 local governments who qualify for payments.