WA counties to receive nearly $30M in payments for tax-exempt federal land

Washington’s counties will share close to $30 million in payments this year from the U.S. government to compensate them for untaxable federal land within their boundaries.

The Interior Department last week announced $621.2 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes for state and local governments nationwide. How much each place receives depends on the number of acres of federal land in the jurisdiction and its population.

“These funds are critical to the vast majority of our counties,” said Derek Young, interim executive director for the Washington State Association of Counties. He added that the importance of the money varies depending on how much federal acreage a county has and other factors.

“In some cases, it makes up a significant chunk of their general fund because they can’t collect property taxes on those lands,” Young said.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/wa-counties-to-receive-nearly-30m-in-payments-for-tax-exempt-federal-land/