US Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have announced counties throughout Oregon will receive a combined total of more than $31 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2025.
Because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT funding helps to defray the costs associated with maintaining important community services.
PILT compensates counties for tax-exempt federal lands administered by agencies including the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation and US Army Corps of Engineers. Payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of that county or jurisdiction.
Here in Southern Oregon, Jackson County will receive more than $2 million while Josephine County will receive about $1.7 million. Curry County will receive just over $1 million and Douglas County will get around $830,000.
Individual payments may vary from year to year as a result of changes in acreage data, prior-year federal revenue-sharing payments reported annually by the governor of each state, and inflationary adjustments using the Consumer Price Index and population data.
Senators Wyden and Merkley said they will continue to monitor PILT allocations closely and continue to ensure fair payments for every county.
