Item O8BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: September 17, 2014 Division: County Administrator
Bulk Item: Yes X No Department: County Administrator
Staff Contact /Phone #: Lisa Tennyson x 4444
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Approval of a resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of
Monroe County, Florida urging the United States Congress to support the permanent, mandatory full
funding of the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
To compensate for the approximate 450,000 acres of federally owned land for which the County cannot collect
property taxes, the PELT program provides approximately $ 1 M to Monroe County, annually.
Historically, Congress provided PILT funding through annual appropriations, and funding levels were
sometimes less than the amount called for in the formula specified in the law, especially in the later years.
However, for the past five years (2008-2013) PELT payments were made part of mandatory spending, ie, the
full funding due to Counties was automatically appropriated each year, for a five year period. Unfortunately,
this mandatory spending feature of PELT, which provided budgetary certainty to the County, expired for FY
2014.
No longer mandatory, PILT 2014 funding was in jeopardy when it was dropped from this year's Omnibus
budget bill. Ultimately Congress extended the mandatory funding of PILT for one year as part of the Farm Bill,
passed in January 2014. We received this payment in June.
FY 2015 PILT funding, is again subject to Congressional appropriation, is again uncertain. We will not know if
next year's PELT will be funded or for how much until Congress approves the appropriation.
As part of the discretionary appropriation process PILT is subject to the chopping block — reduced, eliminated,
traded away as part of other deals. As a mandatory spending line, the funding amount is certain, and does not
have to meet the offset requirement. (The program will cost about $425M next year.) If made permanent and
mandatory, then we will have the certainty of annual PILT funding in the full amount.
Securing FY 15 PELT funding and making future funding permanent and mandatory will need a legislative
vehicle, and continued advocacy. We are working very closely with Rep. Garcia and NACO on this issue, and
we now have a seat on NACO's public lands steering committee, the committee that focuses on PILT. NACO
has organized a PILT fly -in to DC on September 18, 2014.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: Issue is included in the County's Federal legislative
agenda.
I E,10"
mfff = - •
1 .0 01101901113 IP
1:11i1 llmyv�w
WEVENUE PRODUCING: Yes 10i AMOUNT PER MONTH
APPROVED BY: County Att)711 "",I'OMB/Purchasing Risk Management
fV
DOCUMENTATION: Included Not Required.
1111SP1SITION: AGENDA ITEM #
County Administrator
11) .0941111M D!
WHEREAS, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program was created in 1976 to
compensate local governments for reductions to their property tax base due to the presence of
MMM!" 1
: •
111111I �i��I 1 1 1111111911i 51=4
j a I
WHEREAS, to compensate for the approximate 454,861 acres of federally owned land
111" =0 M14
to Monroe County; and
k A", -P.- MA -9 -W4V 0 7 M474 111514: 111,1111! M, 111"i
PILT funding is only about 11% of the amount counties would receive in property taxes if the
lands and facilities were privately owned; and
VAJ11 D I -'i X T * A U 11 N i r,♦M., •III!!1!I!;IIII 1 111111 -M
- "#4
-4;'AEREAS, this funding ensures that Monroe County is able to provide important
community services including law enforcement, fire protection, search and rescue, health care,
solid waste disposal, environmental compliance, parks and recreation and other important
community services; and
WHEREAS, historically PILT funding levels remained static for many years, and
appropriations that were sometimes less than the amount authorized, creating financial
OU
112-141; and
Page I of 2
Res PILT BOCC 9/17/14 (CADLT/kp)
County Administrator
WHEREAS, full mandatory spending for PILT was extended through the farm bill (P.L.
113-79) for FY 2014 and
WHEREAS, without Congressional action to extend additional mandatory funding,
PILT will revert to a discretionary program subject to the annual appropriations process and the
uncertaiI ty of full funding;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section I County of Monroe hereby respectfully requests the United States Congress,
and specifically Florida's United States Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio,
and U.S. Representative Joe Garcia to support full funding for PIELT in FY 2015
and to support a long-term approach to funding essential local services in
America's public lands counties, namely permanent, mandatory full funding of
the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program.
Section 2. The Monroe County Clerk shall forward a copy of this resolution to the United
States Senator Bill Nelson, United States Senator Marco Rubio, and United States
Representative Joe Garcia.
Section 3. County staff is directed to include full, mandatory funding for PILT in the
County's legislative agenda and to advocate for its adoption.
Section 4. Effective Date. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its
MIMI "M I
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners, Monroe County,
Florida at a regular meeting of said Board held on the 17 th of September, 2014.
Mayor Sylvia Murphy
Mayor Pro Tem Danny Kolhage
Commissioner George Neugent
Commi sioner Heather Carruthers
Commissioner David Rice
(Seal)
ATTEST: AMY HEAVILIN, CLERK
0
Res PELT BOCC 9/17/14 (CADLTAq))
I I AW40 I # I I 1 0
By:
Mayor/Chairman
MONROE COUNTY
Page 2 of 2 APPROVED AS
-9isr�i if NGER, JR.
Dow==_