Union and Wallowa counties to receive $3.6 million in PILT funds

Union County will receive $2,112,039 in federal Payments in Lieu of Taxes money for 2026, while neighboring Wallowa County will receive $1,497,560. Together, the two counties are due a combined $3,609,599, part of the $52,016,022 Oregon counties will receive after Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced the figures June 29.

The federal PILT program compensates local governments for land owned by the federal government that does not produce ordinary property-tax revenue. The Department of the Interior made the 2026 payments on or about June 23 to more than 1,900 local government entities nationwide. PILT started in 1977 and has distributed $13.4 billion to date.

PILT can support firefighting, police protection, public schools, roads and search-and-rescue operations, and local governments may use the funds for any governmental purpose. The public land base in rural counties with large federal footprints includes National Forest System lands, National Park System lands, Bureau of Land Management lands, Bureau of Reclamation water-project lands and other federal parcels that do not add to the county property-tax roll.

The 2026 allocation increased from Oregon’s 2025 PILT total of $31,027,890. The formula is based on federal acreage, population, prior-year federal revenue-sharing payments and inflation adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index, which means the amount changes each year rather than serving as a fixed subsidy.

This year’s payments were fully funded under the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, signed Jan. 23.