Delmarva counties stand to lose funding with Trump cuts
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a U.S. Department of Interior quote. The quote should have been attributed to a news release.
President Donald Trump's federal budget outline proposes several cuts to federal programs and would affect several municipalities.
The National Wildlife Refuge fund under the Department of the Interior is just one of 62 specifically on the chopping block. The fund, dating back to 1935, was established to help offset lost property tax revenue for municipalities with refuges. The payments are known as PILT payments — payments in lieu of taxes.
As land value has increased, Congress has struggled to stay on top of program funding. Congress has not fully funded the program since 1981.
"The President's budget blueprint also eliminates some duplicative programs, including discretionary Abandoned Mine Land grants that overlap with existing mandatory grants, National Heritage Areas that are more appropriately funded at the local level, and National Wildlife Refuge fund payments to local governments that overlap with other payment programs," a U.S. Department of Interior news release state Thursday.
READ MORE: At Blackwater refuge, rising sea levels drown habitats
READ MORE: Trump budget would drop Chesapeake Bay funding
Virginia's Eastern Shore is home to three National Wildlife Refuges, including the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge. Maryland is home to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is on the western shore of the Delaware Bay.
"Dorchester County does, in fact, receive a payment each year from the Department of Interior to compensate us for the loss of property taxes that would otherwise be collected on the 30,000-plus acres of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge," said Robert L. Willey, assistant finance director for Dorchester County.
The effect of the proposed cut is unknown, Willey said, but the payments have never been consistent, anyway.
Dorchester County received $65,916 in 2016, $46,246 in 2015 and $49,410 in 2014, according to Willey.
In Accomack County, payments from fund ranged from $26,968 in fiscal year 2014 to $29,238, according to Amy Ford, the county's deputy finance director.
"We do have other federal monies coming from the Department of Interior, as these monies do, but they are not PILT payments," Ford said. "As I mentioned these funds are placed in the county’s general fund and are not limited to a specific purpose."