How will county and local governments recoup property tax losses?
The Corps of Engineers does not pay taxes to States, counties or local governments. However, the Corps participates in a payment in lieu of taxes program that is administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The PILT payments are intended to offset a portion of the property tax revenue that was paid on the land by the previous private land owner. The Corps reports it’s acquired acreage to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for calculation of PILT payments. The BLM distributes the payments to the state in which the land lies. Generally, the States pass the payments on to the county where the land is located. The amount does not equal the amount of property taxes the previous owner was paying. More information on PILT can be found at the BLM web site at www.blm.gov/pilt.
