June 30, 2025 6:45 a.m.

Three members of the Oregon Congressional Delegation have announced that counties throughout Oregon will receive a combined total of just over $31 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding for 2025.

A release from Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden said because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT funding helps to defray the costs associated with maintaining important community services in counties with federal lands.

Merkley said, “Rural communities shouldn’t have to wonder if they will have the resources they need to pay for essential services and infrastructure”. Merkley serves as Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee which funds PILT.

Wyden said, “Oregonians count on these federal investments to provide key support for road and bridge maintenance, public safety including firefighters and law enforcement, and more throughout our state”.

PILT compensates counties for tax-exempt federal lands administered by several federal agencies. 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.

Congressman Cliff Bentz said, “Since PILT payments began in 1977, the U.S. Government, through the Department of the Interior, has distributed more than $12.6 billion dollars”.

Douglas County will receive $829,456 in PILT payments. Nationwide, the Department of the Interior has awarded nearly $645 million through the PILT program to more than 1,900 state and local governments.