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Washington, DC – June 22, 2007 – Santa Fe County received good news this week from Washington when it was announced that the Senate Finance Committee has approved an amendment to a key bill that will increase payments to New Mexico counties by tens of millions of dollars over the next five years. “At a time when encouraging words about funding are increasingly rare, hearing this is really exciting as we plan for the future” said Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya.

The amendment takes two steps for New Mexico:  it expands and extends the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, increasing payments to New Mexico counties under the program next year from about $2.3 million to about $22 million. That program supports counties that rely economically on national forest lands.  The bill also fully fundsthe Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which compensates counties that have extensive federal land that cannot be a source of property taxes.

“Counties throughout New Mexico rely very heavily on PILT and county payment funding to provide basic services to their residents.  Under this proposal, New Mexico will gain millions of additional dollars,” said U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman.

“I am pleased that the Finance Committee has seen fit to include the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act in the energy tax package.  This provision will increase payments for most New Mexico counties, providing funding for schools and roads that is more proportionate to the number of acres of federal land in the state,” said Senator Pete Domenici.

The proposal would provide about $2.8 billion through 2011 to fund counties with National Forest lands under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (commonly referred to as the “county payments” program).  It is estimated that New Mexico would receive a total of nearly $100 million from 2007-2011 under the program.  Currently, New Mexico receives about $2.3 million annually under the program, which will expire in October of this year if not reauthorized by Congress.