Jun 17
PILT…Schmilt! Give Us Back Our Land.
2007 at 12:45 am | posted by Rep. Craig Frank 2 comments
Yesterday’s article, Utah tallies in-lieu tax funds, written by Suzanne Struglinski of the Deseret Morning News, got my blood boiling…again. Suzanne reports that Utah recently recieved funding of approximately $20 million for Payment In-Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for compensation related to the fact the Federal government owns nearly 65% of the land mass within the borders of the Great State of Utah–money we can’t collect from local land owners because there aren’t any. Why wouldn’t they want to own it…it’s Great! I know it, you know it and apparently they know it, too.
State’s cannot impose Property Taxes on the Federal Government. Imagine that. And, because states cannot tax the Federal government, state and local governments miss out on a big chunk of potential revenues shouldered by the “would-be” property owners if the Feds were to GIVE US BACK OUR LAND (Rep Rob Bishop quote). So, instead of deeding the property back to the states, they give us pennies on the dollar for “compensation” in the form of PILT.
Sometimes, and it’s not too often, government proposes something worth look at…closely. One of these programs is the APPLE Initiative–Action Plan for Public Lands & Education. I don’t really know where it came from. It was “before my time.” I’ve been told it may have been orchestrated by former Gubernatorial Candidate and House Speaker, Marty Stephens.
The APPLE Initiative proposes that the Western States create an alliance to “approach” the Federal government to “ask” for compensation (PILT), to a greater degree (PILT), for the land they promised to pay for, by agreement, and then promptly abandoned their promise. Surprised?! You shouldn’t be. You see, it’s not just our problem…the Fed’s own MORE THAN 50% OF ALL WESTERN STATES’ LAND–substantially more land mass than the 37 “Eastern States.”
What does this mean? This means that you and I bear a greater concentrated burden for state and local taxes related to Municipal and Local Education costs. This means that our children and Public Education are uncompensated to the tune of potentially tens of millions (hundreds of millions) of dollars annually. What this means is you need to get on the phone to your Congressman today (OK, tomorrow) and say you’re mad as hell heck (remember we’re in Utah) and not gonna take it any more!
Give us more PILT or give us back our damn darn land!
2 Responses to “PILT…Schmilt! Give Us Back Our Land.”
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June 17th, 2007 at 7:56 am
“Give us back our land.” That implies that we originally had the land and it was taken from us. Is that the case, or has the federal government owned it the whole time? I don’t know the details.
June 17th, 2007 at 8:37 am
It\’s true, the APPLE Initiative presentation link I posted mentioned that as part of the \”Agreement\” for statehood, the Federal Government would \”retain\” SOME of our land \”in Trust\” for future interaction (more like strong-arming) between the the feds and states. What we\’re we going to say ? No!
It\’s the disproportionate percentages of land mass between Western and Eastern States that has me wondering. See link http://le.utah.gov/interim/2006/appleinitiative/sld026.html
I mean, come on, fair is fair, right?! Equitable this deal is not.
THE BRIGHT SIDE–If there is a Silver Lining to a Dark Cloud
Currently, SITLA (School & Institutional Trust Lands Administration) internally administers over 10 different \”Trust Lands\” programs for Utah–from Educatiom to Mineral Harvesting. The Educational Trustlands program is rapidly nearing $1 billion in assets, with a current asset base of over $705 million. See link http://www.utahtrustlands.com/lib/viewDocument.asp?docID=595
And, Utah makes a whole heck of a lotta spending cash just from the interest from these programs. For example: Our local school\’s\’ Community Councils (Alpine School DIstrict) recieved approximately $25,000 per school for education \”advancement\” related programs. See this link http://www.utahtrustlands.com/
It\’s true, we probably never \”technically\” owned the land on which our Great State sits, but possession is nine-tenths of the law. I think the Mexicans would agree.