HomeMy WebLinkAboutPILT PaymentButte County
Chairman Bd Supvs
25 County Center Dr
Oxoville, CA 95965
WASHINGTpN
JUN 15, 2011
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Dear County Off cial:
THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
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I am pleased to notify you that on June 16, 2011, the Department of the Interior issued a payment to your
county under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes {PICT) program.
The PICT Program compensates local jurisdictions for Federal lands administered by agencies within the
Department and on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Anny Corps of Engineers. The PICT
payments may be used for any governmental purpose, including important community services such as
emergency response, public schools, and roads. Since counties and local jurisdictions are prohibited from
taxing Federal lands, annual PICT payments help to defray casts associated with maintaining services that
support these Iands within their boundaries.
The PICT Program is authorized by the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, 31 U.S.C. 6901-6907, as
amended. The PICT Act prescribes the formula that is used to compute the annual payments based on per
acre and population variables, which are annually adjusted for inflation and census data. Prior year
Federal payments under certain revenue sharing programs are deducted in formulating the payment
amounts. These amounts are reported by your State through an annual reporting process. A provision in
the PICT Act provides that temporary payments be made to compensate for recent additions to the
National Park System and the National Forest Wilde-ness areas.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 {P.L. 110-343) authorized full funding for the PICT
program beginning in 200$ and through 2012. Over 1,850 Iocai jurisdictions received a total of
$375.2 million in PICT payments this year.
For Fiscal Year 20I I, your county is entitled to a PICT payment of $50,193.00. If current bank routing
and account numbers for your county have been provided to our National Business Center office or to
CCR (Central Contractor Registration), an electronic funds transfer (EFT) will post to your account on or
about June 16, 2011. If this information has not been received, a check will be mailed to your county's
address of record from the U.S. treasury in San Francisco, California, on June 16, 2011.
Should you require further information, points of contact are provided in the enclosed list of Frequently
Asked Questions. Additional information about the P1LT Program is available at www.doi.gov/pilt. This
site also includes information on how to register in CCR to expedite receipt of future P1LT payments.
Sincerely,
l
i
Ken Salazar
Enclosure
PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXE5 [PICT]
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS [FAQs]
Question: How are PICT payments computed?
Answer: General information concerning the methods used to compute PICT payments can be found in
the expanded FAQs section of the PICT website located at www.doi.govlpilt . For more specif c
information concerning how a particular unit of local government's payment was computed please call
Mr. Bill Howell, Office of the Secretary, Office of Budget, 202-208-3157 (Commercial ar FTS). Persons
who utilize a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) can call the Federal Information Relay
Service at I-$00-877-8339, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to contact Mr. Howell.
Question: The PICT Notification Letter stated the EFT payment due our county would be credited to
our account several days ago. How can I find out where our payment was sent?
OR
Our county is not enrolled in EFT, and expected to receive our PICT check several days ago. Who can
we talk to about this?
Answer: The phone number for the PICT Help Desk, at the National Business Center-Denver is
303-969-7722. The Help Desk can answer any inquiries concerning either EFT or check disbursement of
PICT payments.
Question: To expedite receipt of our PICT payment in the future, our county would like to enroll in the
EFT payment program. Where can we get a PICT EIectronic Funds Transfer (EFT) EnrollmentlChange
form?
Answer: - From the PICT Home Page at www.doi.gov/gilt, click Frequently Asked Questions;
- Click on Pa ent Method and ACH Enrollment Form about ~/3 of the way down the list of subjects
immediately under the yellow topic boxes.
The Agency Information Section third paragraph of the ACH Enrollment Form also lists the phone and
fax numbers where additiozaal information and assistance is available.