by Thomas Mitchell
4th St8

Gannett’s Washington bureau is reporting that the new farm bill cobbled together today does in fact contain funding for PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes,) just as Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei and other Western congressmen were promised earlier when the funding was left out of the omnibus spending bill.

The $400 million set aside for this fiscal year is approximately the same as was paid out in 2013 to counties with large tracts of federal public lands not subject to property taxes. The distribution formula has remained largely the same for several years, meaning Nevada counties get about $23 million, considerably less per acre and per capita than other Western states.