McSally, bipartisan group of senators request reauthorization of critical programs for counties

U.S. Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and a bipartisan contingent of 30 other senators urged U.S. Senate leaders to include a reauthorization of two critical federal programs for rural counties in any end-of-year legislation.

Specifically, Sen. McSally and her colleagues requested at least a two-year reauthorization of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) programs included in such legislation.

The PILT is set to expire at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2019, with final payments distributed to county governments earlier this year, while SRS expired at the end of FY 2018, with the final payments distributed to county governments earlier this year.

“Congress has an obligation to ensure counties with large swaths of federally-owned, tax-exempt forests and rangelands can adequately provide essential services for their residents,” wrote Sen. McSally and her Senate colleagues in an Oct. 2 letter.

Without the certainty of the PILT and SRS, the lawmakers wrote that “schools, libraries, and jails will close. The services counties continue to provide will see a reduction in staffing and resources. Roads will go unpaved and become unsafe. Mental health and physical health services will be scaled back and in some cases even ended. Fewer and fewer law enforcement officers will be forced to patrol larger and larger areas.”

Since 1976, nearly 1,900 counties across 49 states have relied on PILT to provide myriad county services, while Congress first passed SRS in 2000 to provide compensation for counties containing federal timberland, according to the letter, which included signatures from U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Steve Daines (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).

“Because the federal government does not pay local property taxes, rural counties containing large swaths of federal lands cannot collect this critical revenue source and are routinely forced to make difficult financial decisions,” wrote Sen. McSally and her colleagues. “A short-term reauthorization of at least two years is critical to provide fiscal certainty for counties containing federally-owned lands.”