Fremont County Commissioner Kevin McFaul announced December 9 that Congress was voting that day to reauthorize Secure Rural Schools, ending a two-year funding freeze. “There’s a vote today, and there’s a real strong push that I was a part of as well as other commissioners to try to get Congress to realize how important that is to the western counties especially,” McFaul told fellow commissioners.
Fremont County receives just over $100,000 from the program, which goes to local schools. “Without that, there is a little bit of a hole there,” McFaul said. Oregon counties get millions from SRS, he noted.
McFaul explained the program pays counties with federal forest lands “instead of timber receipts.” All of Colorado’s congressional delegation signed onto reauthorization. “There’s 100 and some co-sponsors on that, so that’s a good start when you’re in Congress to get those things passed,” he said.
Grand County commissioners discussed the vote at their December 9 meeting. County Manager Cindy McCoy said Colorado Counties Incorporated and the National Association of Counties coordinated advocacy efforts. Congressman Joe Neguse had Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper sign onto the push.
McCoy said county staff reached out to Neguse’s office and “they were anticipating an affirmative vote today.”
Grand County Commissioner Richard Linke said assuming Neguse voted yes, “it would be appropriate to send a note appreciating that he did vote that direction.”
The program replaced timber revenue lost when federal harvests declined. Since 1908, federal law directed 25 percent of timber revenue to counties. Environmental policies reduced harvests in the 1980s and 1990s. Congress created SRS in 2000 to fill the gap.
Congress repeatedly lets the program lapse, forcing counties to lobby for extensions. The latest lapse cut payments to more than 700 counties by 63 percent.
Federal lands generate no property tax revenue but require county services. Without SRS payments, counties cut services or shift costs to remaining taxpayers.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously in June but stalled in the House until December. More than 80 members signed a December 3 letter urging a vote before year’s end. The House passed it 399-5 on December 9.
The reauthorization provides retroactive payments for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Payments resume within 45 days. The program runs through fiscal year 2026, then expires again.
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