About State Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT)

California’s Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program was established in 1949 to offset adverse impacts to county property tax revenues that result when the state acquires private property for wildlife management areas.  Fish & Game Code Section 1504 specifies that when income is derived directly from real property acquired and operated by the state as wildlife management areas, the Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) may annually pay the county in which the property is located an amount equal to the county taxes levied upon the property at the time title was transferred to the state.  This payment has been suspended from time to time when the state budget was suffering from revenue shortfalls.