WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today announced that the Department of the Interior is distributing nearly $27 million to Alaskan communities in compensation for taxes that could not be levied on federal lands in their jurisdictions during fiscal year 2012.

The Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program provides monetary compensation to local governments that contain National Forests, Bureau of Land Management public lands, National Parks and other lands dedicated to water resource development projects. The revenue helps local governments provide vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations.

“With the federal government owning 60 percent of Alaska, the payment in lieu of taxes program ensures communities a source of funding to pay for emergency services, roads and other items that would otherwise be supported through local property taxes,” Murkowski said.

Below are 2011 and 2012 payments to individual areas.

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For further information, please contact Robert Dillon at 202.224.6977 or Robert_dillon@energy.senate.gov or Megan Moskowitz at 202.224.7875 or Megan_moskowitz@energy.senate.gov.

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