Lincoln County receives $1.9M in PILT funding

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced on July 1 that 32 counties across New Mexico would receive $41,357,054 through Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding.

Every year Lincoln County receives federal funding through PILT which may be for maintenance of public lands and roads in the county.

This year, Lincoln County received $1,930,200 in PILT funds to assists with services to 4,831 square miles of land, parks, roads and forests. 

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Payments would provide essential funding to support schools, roads, first respondents, and crucial services in rural communities at a difficult time for rural budgets

The $41 million for 2020 New Mexico funding approved as part of $514.7 million included in the Department of Interior’s portion of the Fiscal Year 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was enacted into law in February with the support of Udall and Heinrich.

“PILT payments are a vital resource for communities across New Mexico, helping to support essential services like schools, roads, public safety and search and rescue operations,” said Udall.

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“I’m proud to continue working to deliver these critical payments for New Mexico, especially at a time when New Mexico counties are facing budget uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m committed to fighting for full, permanent PILT funding to make sure that New Mexico counties have the economic security and stability they need to thrive," he said

The PILT program is administered by the Department of the Interior, which calculates annual payments to local governments based on the number of acres of federal entitlement land within each county and the population of that county.

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“Rural communities rely on PILT payments to provide basic services to residents like road maintenance and public safety services,” said Heinrich. “I am glad we were successful in securing this year’s PILT dollars, but we must still pass permanent funding to ensure that these critical services have the long-term stability they deserve.”

The lands include the National Forest and National Park Systems, lands in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge System, and areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  

Pamela L. Bonner may be reached at Pbonner@RuidosoNews.com, Pam Bonner on Facebook, @Pamelalbonner1 on Twitter, or by phone at 575-202-5555.