Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) reported Wednesday that Vermont local governments are set to receive $896,432 for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) – the federal payments to local governments that help compensate communities for nontaxable federal lands within their boundaries. Fifty-six towns and counties in Vermont will receive payments, ranging from $214 to $70,513.

PILT payments nationally declined this year, but Vermont will see a 2 percent rise over last year and a four percent increase from two years ago. PILT payments can be used by communities in their budgets for things such as firefighting and emergency response or school or road improvements. Leahy, Sanders and Welch have long supported the compensatory payments to Vermont communities. Leahy is a senior member of the Subcommittee on the Interior and the Environment, which has jurisdiction over funding for the Interior Department and the PILT Program.

The PILT formula is based on the number of acres of federal entitlement land within each county or jurisdiction and the population within that area. The lands include the Green Mountain National Forest and the National Park System, lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and land affected by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation water resource development projects, and others.

The top recipients in Vermont are listed below: