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PINE RIVER-Cass County's state payment in lieu of taxes will decrease this year, because the value of state land in the county has decreased.

Assessor Mark Peterson explained to the county board Tuesday, his office is required to reassess these state lands, upon which the PILT is based, every six years.

Privately owned property is reappraised annually and regularly visited by county staff appraisers. The county, however, does not have enough employees to do on-site inspections of all the state lands.

So, until now, Peterson said, they have used a uniform value for all state land.

What has changed is that the state now requires its land to be appraised based on variations in the quality of its holdings, not just a uniform amount.

GIS information and improved aerial photos now enable county staff to view state-owned tracts of land digitally without making an on-site visit, Peterson said. Appraisers can see the differences between high and low ground tracts and variations in types of vegetation from the digital maps.

Large areas of Leech Lake shoreline the state owns were found to be mostly bog land, not prime shore land, he said. This and other areas brought down the value of state land in Cass County and, as a result, the amount the state will pay in PILT.

It also means that the PILT share the county gives to townships may go up or down, depending upon the quality of state land in that township.

Overall, state land value in Cass County dropped from $86,335,531 last year to $48,206,200 this year after the reappraisal.

It means the state PILT payment to the county will drop from $1,300,072.97 in 2016 to $1,013,940.07 this year and the Wildlife Management Lands Settlement (formerly public hunting grounds) will drop from $146,611.50 in 2016 to $106,987.50 this year.

Of this year's PILT, $162,197.72 goes to the land department natural resources development fund, $91,197.08 will be divided among townships based on the value of state land inside each and $760,545.27 goes to the county general fund.

Of this year's wildlife management payment, $67,240.21 goes to the county general fund, $1,292.61 goes to unorganized townships, $12,280.37 is divided among organized townships and $26,174.31 goes to school districts.

Peterson said the county will regain some of its lost PILT revenue next year when a new law goes into effect, which raised the state PILT payment from $1.50 per acre to $2.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.[[In-content Ad]]

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