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Show Louise Liston Requests Increase On PILT Funds Garfield County Commissioner Louise Liston, whose own community, com-munity, Escalante, is on the nation's na-tion's new list of "America's Endangered En-dangered Communities," urged members of Congress ,in meetings held in Washington D.C. Nov. 2 -3 to adopt legislation that would increase in-crease funding for the Payments-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program. Liston met with members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to stress the need for an increase in PILT funding. "The problem with PILT," said Garfield County (Utah) Commissioner Commis-sioner Louise Liston, "is that the program has not received a funding increase since it was created in 1976. During those 17 years, the consumer price index has risen more than 120 percent. meaning that in 1977 dollars the program today is worth less than half of when originally enacted." "At the same time," Liston continued, con-tinued, "costs to counties have risen dramatically. Counties use PILT funds to provide basic local services such as search and rescue, emergency emer-gency medical, law enforcement, solid waste, road maintenance, and snow plowing to enable federal agencies to protect and manage the large amount of lands held at national na-tional parks and forests, wildlife refuges, and other recreational lands." One third of the nation-660 million acres is federally owned. Counties provide basic infrastructure infrastruc-ture and services that has always enabled federal agencies to protect and manage the vast amount of lands held as national parks, national na-tional forests, wildlife refuges and other recreational lands. Costs to counties for infrastructure and services ser-vices have risen dramatically in recent re-cent years and since the federal government gov-ernment does not pay property taxes on its land, counties are facing severe se-vere fiscal problems. At a news conference on Nov. 3, NACo officials demonstrated the need for an increase in PILT by releasing re-leasing the new list of "America's Endangered Communities." .The 10 communities are Happy Camp and Portola, Calif.; Walden, Colo.; Elk City, Idaho; Troy, Mont.; Reserve, N.M. ; Mill City and Ukiah, Ore.; Encampment, Wyo.; and Escalante, Utah. "Endangered communities" are those communities in which the federal government owns large tracts of land and whose economic livelihoods are threatened by restrictive restric-tive public lands management policies poli-cies by the federal government and by lack of financial support from PILT. Three years ago, NACo released its first list of 10 "endangered communities." Two communities from that list Jarbridge, Nev. and Cima, Calif. have become extinct or died. Walden, Reserve, Mill City and Escalante were placed on the first list and remain on the new list. The remaining four have shown improvements through enlightened en-lightened federal land management policies and have moved from endangered en-dangered to threatened. These communities are Weed, Calif.; Horseshoe Bend, Idaho; Columbia Falls, Mont.; and Williston, N.D. "These communities are suffering," suffer-ing," said Boise County (Idaho) Clerk Arlene C. Kolar, who serves on NACo's Public Lands Steering Committee, which reviewed and recommended communities for the list. "Jobs have been eliminated and businesses have shut down due to federal policy and court decisions. deci-sions. Limitations on logging, mining, recreation and cattle grazing graz-ing have caused these communities' economies to falter and have placed a severe strain on counties that provide pro-vide needed services." County officials are looking for relief through an increase in the Payments-In-Licu-of-Taxes (PILT) program. The federal government does not pay property taxes on the vast amount of land it owns across the country-one third of the nation--but it does provide assistance to counties through PILT. Liston and other Garfield County officials are attending the Utah Association of Counties annual an-nual convention being held in St. George where Garfield County Commission Chairman Tom Hatch, as president of the UAC board of directors, is presiding over the sessions at the three-day seminar. |