Heller argues against delayed PILT payments

Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., has objected to the Interior Department's announcement that Payment In Lieu of Taxes payments to Nevada counties and other Western states will be delayed.

Heller said those payments normally arrive in June and most county budgets rely on that money to balance their budgets. Interior officials announced this week those payments won't arrive until July.

"Due to the large amount of federally owned land in the Western states, the local tax base in many of our local communities is limited," Heller said. "For this reason, PILT funding is critical to the health of communities across the West, especially in our current economic environment."

He said the delay seems small but, in fact, creates an additional burden for counties struggling financially.

PILT payments are designed to replace property tax revenue counties with large tracts of non-taxed federal land within the borders can't collect. In Nevada, 87 percent of all land is federally owned and, in some small counties, the percentage is over 95 percent.