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March 5, 2004
Dear feds: help!
Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) are federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. Since the federal government claims dominion over 98 percent of Nye, the county is limited to collecting taxes on the remaining two percent. Recognizing that federal ownership of land could place an extreme financial burden on some counties, Congress enacted PILT legislation to compensate for their losses. However, the program has been hobbled by chronic under funding. Surely, Congress, the keeper of the nation's purse strings, could find a few million dollars from its multi-billion dollar failed war on drugs. Do you think a few million would be missed from the billions allocated annually for foreign aid? I think our congressional members need to explain why they always manage to throw away millions of tax dollars on outrageous port projects yet can't seem to fully fund PILT, which is so essential to Nye County because of the way it is financially strapped by the federal government. Senators Reid and Ensign, Representatives Gibbons, (Porter) and Berkley, are you listening? LEONARD J. COENEN |
