Supervisor Horstman is a member of the National Association of Counties. In this capacity, she also serves on the Public Lands Steering Committee which is responsible for all matters relating to federally-owned public lands including federal land management programs, natural resource revenue sharing payments, payments in lieu of taxes (PILT), and Secure Rural Schools (SRS). The principal concern of the PLSC is to advocate for the full funding of PILT and SRS.

PILT are Federal payments to local governments that help offset losses in property taxes due to the existence of nontaxable Federal lands within their boundaries. Coconino County is home to 4.7M Acres of nontaxable federal lands that qualify for these payments.

The SRS program provides assistance to rural counties and school districts affected by the decline in revenue from timber harvests on federal lands. SRS was enacted in 2000 to stabilize payments to counties and to compensate for lost revenues. 27.31% of land in Coconino County is National Forest Land and equals roughly $2.6M in SRS payments.

PILT and SRS payments are one of the ways the Federal Government can fulfill its role of being a good neighbor to local communities. To learn more about the National Association of Counties visit the website.