Imperial County to receive funding through PILT (6-16-08, 3:22 p.m.)

Imperial County will receive $1,801,781 under the federal Payments in Lieu of Taxes Program.

Riverside County is the only county that will receive more money under the program. Across the nation, $228.5 million will be disbursed under the PILT program.

"PILT payments help local communities pay for important services, including emergency response, public schools, and roads," U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Chula Vista, said in a prepared statement. "I have long supported the PILT Program because it helps communities offset the foregone revenues to counties for federal lands within their jurisdiction."

The program is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and was created in order to cover some of the costs required to maintain federal property within the county, according to the Imperial Valley Press archives.

The number of acres owned by the federal government is multiplied by a dollar amount per acre in deciding how much each county receives. The population of the county is also taken into consideration, according the archives.

More details can be found at: http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/06/17/local_news/news02.txt

— BROOKE RUTH, digital media news editor