Stormclouds sprawl across the sky above Little Bald Mountain south of Baker City on June 20, 2025. (Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald)

A federal program dating to 1977 that sends millions of dollars annually to counties based on the amount of federal land within their borders will include $31 million for Oregon counties this year, and about $6.2 million for Northeastern Oregon.

The Department of the Interior this week announced the annual Payment In Lieu of Taxes amounts.

The PILT program is designed to compensate counties for the loss of property tax revenue, since the federal government doesn’t pay taxes on the land it manages.

Annual PILT payments are based on the acreage of federal land in each county as well as population, and are adjusted to reflect inflation.

In Northeastern Oregon, the percentage of federal land ranges from 61% in Grant County to about 12% in Morrow County.

“PILT makes sense, since the government collects more than $20.7 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands,” Oregon Rep. Cliff Bentz said in a press release announcing the PILT payments. “Millions of acres of federal land are located in Oregon counties, but this land cannot be taxed. Nonetheless, these counties and the people in them shoulder the multitude of costs that benefit this land such as maintaining roads, schools, first responders, law enforcement, and fire protection. This PILT program helps defray some of the cost associated with maintaining these crucial services.”

PILT payments this year to Northeastern Oregon counties:

• Baker $1,647,000 (51% federal land, population 16,746

• Grant: $882,000 (61% federal land, population 7,181)

• Morrow: $400,000 (12% federal land, population 14,313)

• Umatilla: $1,007,000 (20% federal land, population 81,030)

• Union: $1,579,000 (48% federal land, population 26,052)

• Wallowa: $690,000 (58% federal land, population 7,497)