Pilt (Payments in Lieu of Taxes)

Under federal law, local governments are compensated through various programs for reductions to their property tax bases due to the presence of most federally owned land. These lands cannot be taxed, but may create demand for services such as fire protection, police cooperation, or simply longer roads to skirt the federal property. Some of these programs are run by specific agencies and apply only to that agency's land. The most widely applicable program, administered by the Department of the Interior (DOI), applies to many types of federally owned land, and is called "Payments in Lieu of Taxes," or PILT. The authorized level of PILT payments is calculated under a complex formula.