What is PILOT?
Since land in public ownership is not subject to property tax, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program annually
compensates towns for lost revenue, drawing about 80 percent of the money from General Funds allocated by the Legislature, and the other 20 percent from funds provided by the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife. As defined in Title 32 Chapter 123 § 3708, FPR’s Lands Administration and Recreation Division administers the PILOT program for the Agency of Natural Resources.
How is the payment determined at acquisition?
ANR determines the base payment for each new acquisition with the same values and equation that the town would use to produce its annual tax bill in the year of ANR's acquisition. ANR takes the Land Value as listed by the town at the time of acquisition, divides it by 100, and then multiplies the quotient by the town's tax rate for that year:
(Land Value/100) municipal tax rate = PILOT Base Payment
Therefore, the PILOT Base Payment will equal the amount listed on the town tax bill in the year of acquisition.
ANR’s PILOT is derived from the listed Land Value and therefore does not include the value of any structures on the property. The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) handles any payments to towns for structures.
School Taxes and the State Education Fund
The Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1997 created a Statewide school tax to be paid into the State Education Fund. Therefore, although the annual PILOT does not cover school taxes, when ANR acquires land, all Vermonters will absorb the loss of income to the State Education Fund. Since that loss is spread out across the State, the impact to individual Vermonters will likely come out to less that 1/10th of a cent (dependent on the size of the acquisition).
How does the payment change over time?
Land owned by ANR is not subject to new assessments after ANR has acquired it. However, as per 32 V.S.A. § 3708 (d), every three to five years, the ANR Secretary shall recommend an adjustment to the Legislature "consistent with statewide municipal tax rate or other appropriate indicators". In 2022, the Legislature agreed to an adjustment that resulted in a 1.29-percent increase to the base payment for each parcel in ANR ownership. The next adjustment is scheduled for between 2025 and 2027.
Below are spreadsheets for PILOT payments by town since 2016 (Fiscal Year 2017):
2023 (Fiscal Year 2024) PILOT Payment by Town
2022 (Fiscal Year 2023) PILOT Payment by Town
2021 (Fiscal Year 2022) PILOT Payment by Town
2020 (Fiscal Year 2021) PILOT Payment by Town
2019 (Fiscal Year 2020) PILOT Payment by Town
2018 (Fiscal Year 2019) PILOT Payment by Town
2017 (Fiscal Year 2018) PILOT Payment by Town