Date of Award:

5-1998

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Economics and Finance

Department name when degree awarded

Economics

Committee Chair(s)

E. Bruce Godfrey

Committee

E. Bruce Godfrey

Committee

Chris Fawson

Committee

Darwin B. Nielsen

Abstract

County governments cannot assess property taxes on federal land, yet local governments are required to provide similar services as they do on all other areas of the county. Federal government payment programs have been implemented to compensate county governments for the expenditures incurred due to federal land.

In the mid-1960s, the Public Land Law Review Commission implemented and completed a study which analyzed whether selected individual states and counties were being compensated for the expenditures incurred on federal land. It also estimated tax revenues local governments would receive if federally owned acreage was privately owned. The study then compared these potential revenues with existing revenues from government payment programs.

The purpose of this study was to identify net revenues from county government expenditures and revenues due to federally owned land for the years 1975 through 1990. Comparisons were also made between estimated tax revenues, if federal land acreage was privately owned, and federal land-related government payment programs. Two Utah counties, Box Elder and Kane, were selected for this study. County government audit reports and other county records, along with information and data obtained from county and federal government personnel, were obtained and analyzed. Comparisons were made between these findings and the Public Land Law Review Commission mid-1960s results and conclusions. The results are opposite between the two counties and from the Public Land Law Review Commission Study.

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