Arizona County Sues Feds to Recover Underpayments
Greenlee County, a small rural county in Southeastern Arizona, has brought suit against the federal government, seeking payment of $2.4 million that it alleges that it is entitled to but was never paid.
(PRWEB via PR Web Direct) January 7,
2005 -- Greenlee County, a small rural county in Southeastern Arizona, has
brought suit against the federal government, seeking payment of $2.4 million
that it alleges that it is entitled to but was never paid. The funds were part
of moneys which the government was to have paid Greenlee pursuant to a statute
enacted in 1976 called the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act. Under the Act,
the federal government, a large landowner in many counties, promised to pay
those counties for providing police, search and rescue and other services just
as other property taxpayers in the counties do.
"Greenlee County
consists of only 8% private land. In fact 77% of Greenlee County is owned and
managed by the federal government," said Hector Ruedas, chairman of the Greenlee
County Board of Supervisors. "That means that although we provide services
throughout the entire county, we cannot tax any of the land owned by the federal
government to help pay for those services. Many county services we provide
benefit out-of-county tourists and visitors to federal lands. When the feds
under-fund their PILT obligation, to which the county is entitled, it makes it
very tough to continue to provide services. We have had our budget stretched to
the limit," Mr. Ruedas added.
Under PILT, Congress obligated the United
States to make annual payments to Greenlee and the other 1900 PILT counties
pursuant to a very detailed formula based on the number of acres of federal land
in each county, its population and the amount of money it gets under other
federal programs. The intended purpose is to compensate local governments for
the loss of tax revenues resulting from the tax-immune status of federal lands
located in their jurisdictions, and for the cost of providing services related
to these lands. Greenlee County Attorney Derek Rapier indicated that, "Since
1995, despite the purpose of the statute, the obligations contained in it, and
the counties’ reliance on the government’s fulfilling its obligations, Congress
has simply failed to appropriate enough money to do so. Increasing financial
pressures on county government combined with the failures to fully fund PILT
have left the county hard pressed." "We believe that filing this suit is one of
the very few options we have left," Rapier added.
As a result, Greenlee
County has commenced litigation on behalf of itself and all other similarly
situated counties throughout the country seeking the money that the federal
government owes the counties. The litigation is being handled by the Washington
D.C. law firm of Saltman & Stevens P.C. (a firm that specializes in complex
federal litigation) and the Portland, Oregon firm of Sussman Shank (also a firm
with substantial expertise in litigation). Lead counsel, Alan Saltman stated
that, "It is very unfortunate that the government has not lived up to its
obligations," and that, "while there is a lot of money at stake, over 700 of the
1900 affected counties (mostly those in the East) have claims of less than
$25,000. Because of this fact, class action status, which Greenlee County has
sought for the case, is the only practical way that most of counties can recover
what they are owed."
"What appears to have happened here is that
Congress, pressed for money to fund all of the programs that it has enacted,
simply lost sight of the fact that the federal government has a legal obligation
to provide PILT counties with the amounts specified in the statute that are
necessary to pay for the services which the counties provide," noted
Rapier.
"We feel that we have a very strong case," Ruedas stated, adding
that, "Our lawyers have spent a lot of time researching and refining the legal
bases for our case. We feel confident in our position."
For more information contact:
Alan I. Saltman, Esq., Saltman &
Stevens P.C., (202) 452-2140, e-mail protected from spam bots or
Barry
P. Caplan, Esq., Sussman Shank LLP, (503) 227-1111, e-mail protected from spam
bots
Derek D. Rapier, Greenlee County Attorney, (928) 865-4108, e-mail
protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb195364.htm