Bill Summary for Bill Number SB10-209

Date: 05/04/2010

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB10-209

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-209 to the Committee	PASS

01:59 PM -- Senate Bill 10-209

Senator Schwartz, prime sponsor, described the provisions of Senate Bill 10-209 that changes how federal moneys collected from National Forest lands may be allocated by counties in anticipation of a U.S. Department of Interior decision related to these allocations.

The federal government makes annual payments to 43 counties to compensate for the tax exempt status of national forest lands. This compensation is provided through national forest payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and payments-in-lieu (PILT) taxes from the Department of the Interior. Counties can deposit the money into the county's Road and Bridge Fund or provide it to public schools in the county so long as certain conditions are met.

During the 2009 legislative session, House Bill 09-1250 established the current statutory formula for national forest payments, which allocates 25 percent to a county's road and bridge fund, 25 percent to the public schools in the county, and the remaining 50 percent of the funds are allocated by county representatives with equal participation from representatives of the board of county commissioners and the public schools in the county. Under certain circumstances, if the county provides more than the mandatory 25 percent of national forest payments to the public schools in the county, the PILT payment to the county may be reduced. By waiving the 25 percent minimum allocations of national forest payments, a county may provide schools more than 25 percent and will receive credit for such allocations to the schools in the calculation of the county's PILT payment. The bill repeals the allocation waivers on July 1, 2011, and only applies to the allocation of the federal fiscal year 2009 national forest payments. For counties that may have reduced PILT payments in FY 2010-11, this bill provides an opportunity to change the manner in which national forest payments are allocated to maximize the PILT payments.

The following persons testified on the bill:

02:02 PM -- Chip Taylor, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in support of the bill and described federal appropriations for payments in lieu of taxes and the federal Secure Rural Schools Act (Attachment A). He also described total federal payments to counties and schools in 2009 (Attachment B).

02:12 PM -- Bruce Eisenhauer, Deputy Director, Colorado Department of Local Affairs, spoke in support of the bill.

02:13 PM -- Paula Stephenson, Executive Director, Colorado Rural Schools Caucus, spoke in support of the bill.

02:15 PM

Senator Schwartz closed her remarks on the bill.


BILL:	SB10-209
TIME:	02:17:01 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-209 to the Committee of the Whole, without amendment, and with a recommendation that it be added to the consent calendar. The motion passed on roll call vote of 7 to 0.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	Yes
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Foster	Yes
	Schwartz	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:18 PM

The committee recessed.