WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov LAND LINE NEWS NOTES
July 2011
Counties receive tax payments from WDFW
Earlier this year WDFW completed annual payments to 31 of Washington's 39 counties totaling $1,581,106.18 for Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and local assessments on WDFW-owned land.
The PILT totaled $1,227,183.96 to 14 counties covering 496,414.86 acres of WDFW-owned land. Assessments totaled $353,922.22 to 28 counties for weed control, fire protection, storm water control, irrigation, and other services provided by lake management districts and conservation districts.
Each county can either retain game violation fines and forfeitures collected by WDFW within the county, or elect to receive in lieu taxes on WDFW property of at least 100 contiguous acres. (PILT is not paid on department buildings, structures, facilities, game farms, fish hatcheries, tidelands, or public fishing areas of less than 100 acres.)
Most counties that have significant WDFW acreage choose to receive the in lieu payments. In most cases, the payments are equivalent to or more than counties would receive if the property was privately owned and held in open space classification for agriculture or forestry activities.
By state law (Revised Code of Washington 77.12.203 ), counties electing to collect PILT have their choice of three rates. They may: 1) collect an amount equal to that amount paid on similar parcels of private land held in open space tax classification or 2) collect 70 cents per acre or 3) collect the amount paid in 1984 on property WDFW owned prior to that year, unless 70 cents per acre is greater than that older rate. The open space and 1984 rates vary from county to county.
The table shown here lists all the counties with the number of acres eligible for (more than 100 contiguous acres) and elected by the county for PILT. Total acres listed are as of June 30, 2010. Acres controlled but not owned by WDFW are not eligible for taxes or assessments.
Counties with WDFW acreage that show no payment have either chosen to retain game violation fines rather than receive PILT, or have not billed the agency for service assessments. Variations in the taxes per listed acreages may indicate that not all acres are taxed and/or that not all are computed at the same rate. Assessments vary from county to county.
