Potter County Today

The 67-percent increase of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for state forest and park lands approved by the state legislature after an intensive lobbying campaign has borne fruit. Checks were mailed out this week by the Treasury Department. Bottom line: another $650,000 annually coming to Potter County, divided between school districts, local governments and the county. The increase applies to lands owned by the Pa. Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources – increasing their total annual PILT amount from $3.60 to $6.00 per acre. Of that, $2.00 has been sent to the municipality, school district and county where the land is located. The $3.60 figure remains in place for property owned by the Pa. Fish & Boat Commission and Pa. Game Commission.

These higher payments will provide significant tax relief to some of Pennsylvania’s most stressed communities, particularly those in rural areas, according to the Pa. State Land Tax Fairness Coalition, which issued this statement: “We express our appreciation to supportive Senate and House members, Governor Wolf, and the many other people — too numerous to mention — who pulled together to make this mission a success. We believe that, in the final analysis, dedicated elected officials who became aware of our plight over the past two-plus years pulled together in a bipartisan manner to advance this PILT increase because they recognized that it was the right thing to do. ” Potter County Commissioner Paul Heimel chaired the coalition. Other leaders were Commissioners Pete Smeltz (Clinton), Phil Jones (Cameron) and Tony Mussare (Lycoming).