Update given on legislation that would help county

An update on the proposed federal legislation that would reimburse Jackson County for lost property tax revenues due to land placed in USA Trust was shared during a recent county commission meeting.  

The commissioners spoke on the phone with Rob Hartwell of Hartwell Capitol Consulting just before the start of the New Year to discuss the proposed federal legislation that will be introduced by U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall this session. 

The legislation, if passed, would give Jackson County funds annually as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) to offset properties that have been successfully reclaimed by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, put into USA Trust and taken off county property tax rolls, Hartwell said. 

Hartwell and his team has been working and researching the issue for the county for almost two years.

In the phone conversation, Hartwell said that the county is “providing substantial services” to the reservation, including law enforcement, jail services, various Courthouse services and more. 

“It turns out that about 30 percent of Jackson County’s budget is lost to services on the reservation,” Hartwell said. 

He said that since that number exceeds 20 percent, the county can take part on the PILT program provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

According to the DOI, PILT are federal payments that help local governments offset losses in property taxes due to “the existence of nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries.”

The law was first passed in 1976 and amended in 1982 and the law “recognizes the financial impact of the inability of local governments to collect property taxes on federally owned land.”

The PILT payments also help local governments “carry out such vital services as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads,” according to the DOI.

The DOI announced that more than 1,900 state and local governments in the country received a total of $621.2 million in PILT funding for 2024.

About 33,000 acres of land in Jackson County has been put into USA Trust by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, it was reported.

The commissioners asked Hartwell if was going to seek bipartisan support for the bill, and he said yes.

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