PORT ANGELES — Congress has passed a bipartisan agreement that includes an extension of the Secure Rural Schools program that provides money to Clallam and Jefferson counties among others.
Clallam and Jefferson County officials said the funding will help pay for road projects and maintenance.
The Senate on Tuesday voted 92-8 to pass a Medicare access bill that includes a two-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.
The U.S. House passed the Medicare Access and Children Health insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act 392-37 on March 26.
Obama’s signature
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he would sign the bill into law.
“This agreement continues critical support for cities and towns near national forest lands so they can provide essential services to our kids and their families,” U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, said in a Wednesday news release.
“The extension will allow projects like repairs on access roads and investments in local schools to move forward. I was proud to push House leadership to get this done.”
Kilmer represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas and Tacoma.
Secure Rural Schools helps timber-rich counties pay for infrastructure projects and supports school districts near federal forest lands.
Since national forests can’t be taxed by counties or states, the U.S. Forest Service for more than a century has shared revenue from timber harvests with timber-dependent communities.
Payments to come
The extension means payments will be distributed for fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
Kilmer spokesman Jason Phelps said the 2014 payments would be 95 percent of 2013 levels and the 2015 payments would be 95 percent of the 2014 amounts.
In 2013, Jefferson County received $877,496 from the Secure Rural Schools program while Clallam County got $866,081.
“It’s a real bonus,” Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones said Thursday.
“We didn’t budget any for this year.”
Jefferson County roads
Secure Rural Schools will support road department projects that were previously unfunded, Jones said.
Jefferson County commissioners sent a letter to their congressional delegation in January urging support for reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools.
“We actually have our public works department working on that every year,” Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan said Thursday.
“It’s something that has been threatened each budget cycle.”
Secure Rural Schools and the federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes programs have prevented cuts at the county level, Sullivan added.
Behind on maintenance
“I think every county is behind in their [road] maintenance, and of course, the state is behind on maintenance, too,” Sullivan said.
In 2013, Jefferson County was paid $1.28 per acre for 684,087 acres of Olympic National Forest land within its boundaries.
Clallam County received $1.75 per acre for 494,078 acres of Olympic National Forest land in 2013.
The Clallam County government portion of Secure Rural Schools funding has been ratcheted down from about $1 million in 2008 to $464,000 in 2012 and 2013, Jones said.
“All we do with it is roads,” he said.
The Medicare Access and CHIP (Children Health insurance Program) Reauthorization Act, on which the Secure Rural Schools legislation was attached, overhauls how Medicare pays physicians and funds health care for children and low-income families.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
