However, state and local governments have argued that federal lands are not only lost to the tax base, but also impose a burden on local taxpayers through demands for services such as law enforcement or search and rescue actions, which are commonly supported by local taxes. The program for FWS lands in the National Wildlife Refuge System (hereinafter referred to as the System) was enacted in 1935 and has been amended extensively since that time. The 1978 amendments to the program provided that NWRF payments to local governments are based on a complex formula; the authorized funding level varies from one year to the next, based on changes in the data used in the formula. The total payment a county receives for federal lands in its jurisdiction is further complicated by the interaction of NWRF and the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, a broadly applicable federal land payment program for county governments, which uses a different payment formula. This report describes the key features of NWRF: the lands under FWS jurisdiction, the eligibility of most of those lands for NWRF payments, the sources of revenue for the fund, the payment formula for calculating an individual county's payments, the PILT payments available for certain FWS lands, some exceptions to normal authorized payment calculations, changing authorization levels, and falling annual appropriations. What Lands Are Under the Jurisdiction of FWS? National monument areas within the Refuge System are counted in the 'National Wildlife Refuges' category total." FWS lands can be further categorized based on whether (a) they are public domain lands or acquired lands; (b) whether FWS has sole or primary jurisdiction over the lands or instead has only secondary jurisdiction; (c) for acquired lands, whether some other federal agency initially acquired the lands and then transferred them to FWS, or whether FWS acquired the lands directly from a non-federal source as either a gift or a purchase; and (d) whether FWS jurisdiction rests on an agreement, easement, or lease, rather than outright ownership of the land. Criteria for eligibility are as follows:
For lands reserved from the public domain, payments to counties only if or when the lands in the refuge generated net revenues in the previous year. To the extent that the permanently appropriated net revenues are insufficient to meet the amounts calculated under the payment formulas, the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act authorizes discretionary appropriations in annual spending bills to meet any shortfall. This is the only NWRF payment option for such lands. Depending on revenues and costs, these lands might generate payments in some years and not others. However, as noted previously, these lands are also eligible for PILT payments. However, net receipts have never yet been sufficient to meet formula levels. To date, Congress has approved additional funds to supplement the net receipts. PILT payments are mandatory spending through FY2014. Therefore, increases in eligible FWS lands can explain only a part of the increase in authorization levels. Is the fair market value increasing? As a result of increasing FMVs, counties with lands having high FMVs receive an increasing fraction of funds appropriated to the NWRF. The Administration argued that the savings were justified, and that refuges added few costs to counties and provided economic benefits from increased tourism. Fully fund the existing NWRF program. The lands outside the System (administrative sites, national fish hatcheries, and the non-submerged lands in those national monuments outside the System), if they are in the public domain but generate no revenue, currently receive no NWRF payment and no PILT payment.
Many counties are compensated for the presence of federal lands within their boundaries because these lands are exempt from local taxes. Counties with lands under the primary jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are compensated through the National Wildlife Refuge Fund (NWRF). Counties have argued that the program is underfunded; in some instances, counties raise lack of funding as an argument against the establishment of new refuges. At the same time, some hold that budget constraints argue for a reduction in the program. Congress has begun to examine the program for possible changes.
Lands eligible for NWRF payments are largely in the National Wildlife Refuge System, but certain other FWS lands are included as well. Under the 1935 Refuge Revenue Sharing Act (16 U.S.C. §715s), NWRF was conceived as a program to share revenues from activities such as grazing or timber harvest on refuge lands, and such receipts are permanently appropriated to the fund. However, revenue-generating activities were (and are) often incompatible with refuge purposes and many refuges generate no revenue. In such situations, counties received no compensation from the federal government for the presence of the federal land. To address this perceived gap in the program, the law was amended in 1978 to add other payment criteria. Among these criteria was a payment option based on fair market value in the case of acquired lands. It became apparent almost immediately that revenues were not sufficient to meet the payment formula specified in the amended law. Congress has repeatedly appropriated additional funds to supplement the revenue stream. But the additional amounts appropriated have very rarely met the formula level, and never in the last decade. Recent Administration proposals for substantial funding reductions have intensified congressional interest. The Administration argues that the savings are justified and that refuges add few costs to counties and provide economic benefits from increased tourism.
Under NWRF, payments are distributed through a complex formula to counties with FWS lands, with different formulas for lands reserved from the public domain (that is, obtained from a sovereign power) and acquired lands (that is, those purchased from or donated by any entity other than a sovereign power). In turn, public domain lands in the System are also eligible for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT; 31 U.S.C. §6901), which provides additional payments to local governments. Acquired FWS lands are not eligible for PILT.
When NWRF is not fully funded, the reluctance of some state and local governments to see lands within their boundaries acquired for addition to the System may be due in part to lost property tax revenues. As Congress debates changes in NWRF, several issues stand out as part of the debate:
The NWRF payment formula is causing a rapid increase in authorized payment levels. Current NWRF receipts are sufficient to provide only a small fraction of the authorized formula, even without the increasing authorized payment levels. PILT payments, at least through FY2014, are mandatory spending, while NWRF payments are dependent on annual appropriations for the bulk of the program. PILT payments are provided only for public domain lands within the System, and not for other FWS lands.