The Department of the Interior announced Friday that 29 local governments in Utah will receive a total of $43.5 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2022.

The PILT payment is meant to help defray the costs associated with maintaining community services since local governments cannot tax federal lands managed by Department of the Interior agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.

“This program is an important example of the federal government’s commitment to continuing to be a good neighbor to the communities we serve. The nearly $550 million being distributed will help local governments carry out vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release.

PILT payments are calculated based on the total number of acres of federal land within a county or jurisdiction, as well as the population of that county or jurisdiction. Utah County will receive $1,921,294 of payment for 686,401 acres of federal land, Salt Lake County will receive $266,969 for 100,424 acres and Juab County will receive $1,413,202 for 1,538,450 acres.

“The Department collects more than $12.1 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands,” reads a press release from the Interior Department. “A portion of those revenues is shared with states and counties. The balance is deposited into the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding.”

Since the beginning of PILT in 1977, the Department of the Interior has distributed nearly $10.8 billion to U.S. states and territories.

To view a full breakdown of PILT funding by Utah county, people can visit http://pilt.doi.gov/counties.cfm?term=county&state_code=UT&fiscal_yr=2022&Search.x=40&Search.y=13.

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