The URL can be used to link to this page

Browse Search

Home My WebLink About780798.tiff • o • ' * 1. A * J.D. MacFarlane it# ': r Attorney General BTa David W. Robbins MK *tate of Tntnrabu STATE SERVICES BUILDING Deputy Attorney General 1525 Sherman Street,3rd. FI. Edward G. Donovan DEPARTMENT OF LAW Denver,Colorado 80203 Sol I citor General OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Phone 8393611 &839-3621 October 2, 1978 NR3 COUNTY f•0F?#(ISSIBMEAS � r-- Hon. Richard D. Lamm � I Governor of Colorado U State Capitol 0CT 3 1978 Denver, Colorado 80203 GREEL Y, COLO, Dear Governor Lamm: You have requested an opinion from this office on the question of the distribution of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) monies received from the United States Government under 31 U.S.C. §1601, et sue. The request from the Weld County Commissioners outlines three specific questions, and I will address them in order. 1. Does 31 U.S.C. §1601 prohibit a county govern- ment from distributing PILT monies to county school districts? 31 U.S.C. §1601 states in pertinent part: . .the Secretary is authorized and directed to make payments on a fiscal year basis to each unit of local government in which entitlement lands. . .are located. Such payments may be used by such unit for any governmental purpose." In this instance, the "unit of local government" contemplated by the definitional section 13 U.S.C. §1601 (c) would be the county in which the government entitlement lands are situated. While not specifically defined as such within the statute, the rules and regu- lations issued by the Department of Interior on September 23, 1977 defines unit of general government as : a unit of that type of government which, within its state, is the principal pro- vider of government services affecting the use of entitlement lands . . . The term 'unit of government' excludes single purpose or special purpose units of local government such as school districts or water districts. 43 C.F.R. , §1881, 0-5 (b) (1) and (2) ] CAL Cii 780790 Hon. Richard D. Lamm 2 October 2, 1978 31 U.S.C. 1603, Additional Payments to Counties : "In the case of any land or interest therein, acquired by the United States (i) for the Redwood National Park pursuant to the Act of October 2, 1968 (82 Stat. 931) or (ii) acquired for addition to the National Park System or National Forest Wilderness Areas after Decem- ber 31, 1970 , which was subject to local real property taxes within the five years preceding such acquisition, the Secretary is authorized and directed to make payments to counties within the jurisdiction of which such lands or interests therein are located, in addition to payments under sec, 1601. The counties, under guidelines established by the Secretary, shall distribute the payments on a proportional basis to those units of local government and affected school districts which have incurred losses of real property taxes due to the acquisition of lands or interests herein for addition to either such system. " The specific provisions of §1603 should not be interpreted to mandate that only §1603 monies were intended to be distributed to school districts. Mr. Charles Hauser of the Bureau of Land Manage- ment, Department of Interior, has confirmed that Bureau of Land Management interprets the language of §1601 broadly; the monies are to be used, within the discretion of the local governmental unit, "for any governmental purpose. " No additional guidelines as to the distribution of PILT funds have been issued. It would appear that the creation and maintenance of public schools is a legitimate governmental purpose, funded from the prop- erty tax revenues of the county. It is the opinion of this office that the federal statutes do not prohibit the distribution of PILT monies from either §1601 or §1603 sources to school districts if the county so determines. 2. Does state law prohibit the distribution of PILT monies when such monies are paid into the county general fund? C.R.S. 1973, 30-25-106 authorizes the county commissioners to appropriate money from the county general fund: Hon. Richard D. Lamm 3 October 2, 1978 . .for all county expenses including the administrative expenses of elective and appointive offices, library, agricultural extension services, fire protection, fairs, advertising, airports, health, rodent con- trol, water conservation, weed control, pest control, predatory animal control, and all other general county purposes authorized by law. . . School purposes are neither specifically enumerated nor excluded by this section. The county general fund, under C.R.S. 1973, 30-25-105, consists of "all county revenue except that specifically allocated by law for other purposes." Federal monies received under the provisions of 31 U.S.C. §1603 would not be affected by any restrictions on the distribution of the general fund as they are "specifically allocated" for school districts and other units of government under federal law. As pertains to these funds, the county acts only as the distribution agent, in much the same capacity as when the county treasurer funnels allocated property tax monies into the school district fund. Funds received under §1601, however, vest the county with dis- cretion as to the distribution of PILT monies. PILT monies under §1601 are not "specifically allocated by law for other purposes" , and are therefore county revenues, subject to being placed within the gen- eral fund. Once within the general fund, such monies are restricted to "ordinary county expenses" under C.R.S. 1973, 30-25-106. The financing of school districts within the county is not an ordinary expense of the county, but is accomplished in part by the collection of school district property tax revenues by the county treasurer. C.R.S. 1973, 22-40-101, et seq. Although §1601 funds are granted in lieu of tax revenues that might be raised by the school district fund, the provisions of C.R.S. 1973, 30-25-106 would prevent such a distribution once the monies are contained within the county general fund. Further, since funds acquired under 31 U.S.C. §1601 would be considered county revenues, such monies must be placed within the general fund under C.R.S . 1973, 30-25-105, and could not be distributed directly to the school dis- trict fund. ea r_. Hon. Richard D. Lamm 4 October 2, 1978 My conversation with Mr. Hauser and a fiscal analyst with the Bureau of Land Management indicates that BLM interprets 31 U.S.C. §1601 to vest the county with complete discretion in the distrib- ution of funds received under that section. I have outlined to these gentlemen the proposition that Colorado law may prohibit the county from distributing §1601 funds to school districts once such monies are placed within the general fund. I received the advice that state law was deemed to be controlling in such a situation, and that the result under Colorado law, would in their opinion, not contravene the intent of Title 31. This opinion does not address question number three concerning state appropriation to a school district receiving PILT monies, since this opinion renders that discussion unnecessary. CONCLUSION In summary, it is the opinion of this office that while monies received under 31 U.S.C. §1601 and §1603 could be granted to school districts under federal law, Colorado law, specifically C.R.S. 1973, 22-40-106, would prevent the county from distributing §1601 monies to said school districts when such monies are contained in the county general fund. Monies obtained under §1603, however, would be avail- able to school districts, as specifically authorized by federal law. Sincerely, 1FOr J. D. MacFarlane JDM:TLR:ls Attorney General cc: Weld County Commissioners �- is s �;- 'Ce Of f ICI O1 BOARD OR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS rfn i� p PHONE 13031 356-4000 EXT. 200 P.O. BOX 758 11 Dc� I GREELEY, COLORADO 80631 I p COLORADO July 28, 1978 The Honorable Richard D. Lamm Governor of Colorado Denver, CO 80203 Sir: We are addressing this letter to you requesting a legal opinion from the Attorney General concerning the distribution of PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) monies received from the United States Government under 31 USC 1601 (P.L. 94-565) . These payments are made to counties under the Act in lieu of counties receiving real property taxes on lands owned by the Federal Government. Certain school districts within Weld County have requested that Weld County distribute a portion of PILT monies to them since they have lost a tax base on these Federally owned lands. Weld County has felt, however, that it cannot legally do so for the reasons that follow below. 31 USC 1601 (P.L. 94-565) states in part: " . . . the Secretary is authorized and directed to make payments on a fiscal year basis to each unit of local government in which entitlement lands are located. Such payments may be used by such unit for any governmental purpose. " Section 6 (c) defines "unit of local government" as: " . . .a county, parish, township, municipality, borough existing in the State of Alaska on the date of enactment of this Act, or other unit of government below the State which is a unit of general government as determined by the Secretary (on the basis of the same principles as are used by the Bureau of the Census for general statisti- cal purposes) . Such term also includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. " - The Honorable Richard D. Lamm Page 2 July 28, 1978 Proposed rules and regulations under P.L. 94-565 were issued by the Department of the Interior on September 23, 1977 . To the best of our knowledge, no rules have been issued to supercede these. Title 43 §1881. 0-5 (b) (1) defines unit of "general government" as " . . .a unit of that type of government which, within its state, is the principal provider of governmental services affecting the use of entitlement lands . " Subparagraph (2) of that section states: "The term. ' unit of government' excludes single purpose or special purpose units of local govern- ment such as school districts or water districts. " It appears from the foregoing that it was the intention of the United States that PILT monies be distributed to counties. Section 3 (a) of the Act provides for payments to school districts under certain conditions. That Section states as follows: "In the case of any land or interest therein, acquired by the United States (i) for the Redwood National Park pursuant to the Act of October 2, 1968 (82 Stat. 931) or (ii) acquired for addition to the National Park System or National Forest Wilderness Areas after December 31 , 1970, which was subject to local real property taxes within the five years preceding' such acquisition, the ' Secretary is authorized and directed to make payments to counties within the jurisdiction of which such lands or interests therein are located, in addition to payments under section 1. The counties, under guidelines established by the Secretary, shall distribute the payments on a proportional basis to those units of local government and affected school districts which have incurred losses of real property taxes due to the acquisition of lands or interests herein for addition to either such system. " Since only Section 3 (a) speaks to a distribution by counties of PILT monies to school districts, it appears that only Section 3 monies were intended to be distributed to school districts. State statutes place further limitations on ability of a county to distribute these monies. Unless specifically allocated by law, all monies received by a county in Colorado must be placed in the general fund. Section 30-25-106 , CRS 1973 provides : The Honorable Ricnard D. Lamm ' Page 3 July 28 , 1978 "A fund to be known as the county general fund is hereby created and established in each of the counties of the state of Colorado. The county general fund shall consist of all county revenue except that specifically allocated by law for other purposes. " Once that money is in the general fund, it can only be used for specific purposes. Section 30-25-106, CRS 1973 provides: "The board of county commissioners is authorized to appropriate money from the county general fund for all ordinary county expenses, including the administrative expenditures of elective and appointive offices, library, agricultural exten- sion service, fire protection, fairs, advertising, airports, health, rodent control, water conserva- tion, weed control, pest control, predatory animal control, and all other general county purposes authorized by law, except expenditures for public welfare, roads and bridges, debt service , public hospitals , public works, contingencies, and pur- poses voted by the electors. " None of the specific purposes enumerated in Section 30-25-106 include any school purposes. The concerned school districts feel that Weld County should .treat PILT monies the same as tax levies for school districts. However, by statute (Section 22-40-101, et seq. CRS 1973) tax levies for school districts do not go to the general fund but for a special fund for dis- tributions to the school districts. However, there is no special statute preventing PILT monies from being placed in the general fund. We would appreciate very much receiving the Attorney General ' s opinion on this issue in order to settle the controversy between school districts and counties over distribution of PILT monies. We also need to know that if PILT money is distributed to the school districts, will there be a resulting decrease in State appropriations to these school districts? Thank you very much for your anticipated prompt attention to our inquiry. Respebtfully yours, WELD COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS By: ICP �VVi G-Y�• Q%t/ Ed Dunbar, Chairman ED: ss Hello