Interior Announces FY2010 PILT Payment Schedule

Washington, DC – The following is a statement from Department of the Interior Press Secretary Kendra Barkoff:

“The Department of the Interior will issue the Fiscal Year 2010 PILT payments not later than July 15, 2010. We regret the delay in payments and we are moving as quickly as possible to get funding to counties.

We are proud of our efforts to make these payments timely and for the last five years we have been able to make the payments to counties in June, ahead of most counties' fiscal year. Historically, payments were made late in the fiscal year and beginning in 2005 the program moved the payment to June.

The 2010 payment amounts were delayed because of late reporting by some entities and the complexity of evaluating prior year payment amounts authorized by the Mineral Leasing Act and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-determination Act. Each of these statutes and the PILT statute include requirements that impact the development of county payment amounts using a multi-factor formula. We strive to be accurate and these efforts require our due diligence and sometimes additional time. We understand how important it is to provide these payments to counties.”