News Release
April  15, 2008

UW extension releases 2007 PILT facts for Wyoming’s 23 counties

PILT fact sheets for each Wyoming county can be downloaded at: http://ces.uwyo.edu/PILTS2007.asp

PILT payments to Wyoming’s 23 counties increased approximately 1.12 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES).

Wyoming’s share of federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) climbed from $15.19 million to $15.36 million, said Tom Foulke, an associate research scientist in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

The county receiving the highest PILT payment in 2007 was Natrona, which netted $1.93 million. Sweetwater County was second (1.69 million) and Fremont County third (1.57 million). Laramie County received the lowest payment with $13,719.

Payments to individual counties vary widely based on the amount of federal land in the county, population and any prior years’ federal revenue sharing payments received. Natrona County is 43-percent federally owned while the federal government owns just 1 percent of Laramie County.

“Federal lands are not subject to property taxes that support county governments and education. Local communities, however, play an important role in supporting the management of federal lands,” Foulke noted. In 1976, Congress authorized federal land management agencies to share income with states and counties by creating the PILT program to offset lost tax revenue.

“The PILT program helps counties make up for ‘lost’ revenue that counties would normally collect through property taxes if the lands were privately held,” Foulke said. Following is a summary for 2007 PILT payments to Wyoming counties:

Albany: $867,284
Big Horn: $666,305
Campbell: $390,213
Carbon: $684,030
Converse: $325,841
Crook: $183,669
Fremont: $1.57 million
Goshen: $39,431
Hot Springs: $435,258
Johnson: $577,943
Laramie: $13,719
Lincoln: $815,710
Natrona: $1.93 million
Niobrara: $179,674
Park: $1.20 million
Platte: $153,284
Sheridan: $573,211
Sublette: $487,682
Sweetwater: $1.69 million
Teton: $861,208
Uinta: $809,762
Washakie: $627,576
Weston: $210,072

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Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu