S.Amdt. 2602

SA 2602. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2499 proposed by Mr. McConnell to the bill S. 178, to
condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in
Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and
harassment of these communities inside and outside China; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ____. STUDY, REPORT, AND MODELING TOOL RELATING TO THE
TAX EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS UNDER THE
PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES PROGRAM.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) Congress agreed with recommendations of a Federal
commission that, if Federal land is to be retained by the
Federal Government and not contribute to the tax bases of the
local governments within the jurisdictions of which the land
is located, compensation should be offered to those local
governments to make up for the presence of nontaxable land
within the jurisdictions of those local governments;
(2) local governments rely on the stability of property tax
revenues, but no precise figure can be given in advance for
the authorization level of the payment in lieu of taxes
program;
(3) Federal agencies have determined that payments to local
governments under the payment in lieu of taxes program are
far lower than what would be due to local governments under
tax equivalency;
(4) payments under the payment in lieu of taxes program
help local governments carry out vital services, such as
firefighting, police protection, public education,
construction of public schools, construction of roads, and
search-and-rescue operations; and
(5) the technology exists to more accurately determine what
the taxable value of land held by the Federal Government
would be if that land were taxable by local governments.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Federal Government should--
(1) determine the amount that payments under the payment in
lieu of taxes program would be if those payments were
equivalent to the tax revenues that local governments would
otherwise receive for the same land; and
(2) compensate those local governments accordingly.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Payment in lieu of taxes program.--The term ``payment
in lieu of taxes program'' means the payment in lieu of taxes
program established under chapter 69 of title 31, United
States Code.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Tax equivalent amount.--The term ``tax equivalent
amount'', with respect to payments under the payment in lieu
of taxes program, means the amount of property tax revenues
that would be generated for local governments (including the
tax revenues of States, counties, cities, and other taxing
jurisdictions, as applicable) for the Federal land eligible
for those payments if that land were privately owned.
(d) Study, Report, and Model on Tax Equivalent Amount of
PILT Payments.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with
the Secretary of Agriculture and the head of any other
Federal agency that the Secretary determines to be
appropriate, shall--
(A) conduct a study--
(i) to evaluate all land eligible for payments under the
payment in lieu of taxes program as of the date of enactment
of this Act;
(ii) to determine the market value of that land in a fair
and open market; and
(iii) to determine the tax equivalent amount of payments
under the payment in lieu of taxes program for that land;
(B) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report
describing--
(i) the results of the study conducted under subparagraph
(A); and
(ii) how payments under the payment in lieu of taxes
program could more accurately reflect the tax equivalent
amount; and
(C) develop a modeling tool that--
(i) accounts for reasonable and customary valuation factors
and assumptions; and
(ii) calculates, in a timely manner, for every acre of
Federal land eligible for payments under the payment in lieu
of taxes program--

(I) the market value of that land; and
(II) the tax equivalent amount of payments under the
payment in lieu of taxes program for that land.

(2) Requirements.--
(A) Study.--In conducting the study under paragraph (1)(A),
the Secretary shall consider any studies conducted by States,
counties, or other taxing jurisdictions pertaining to the tax
equivalent amount of payments under the payment in lieu of
taxes program.
(B) Modeling tool.--The modeling tool developed under
paragraph (1)(C) shall--
(i) accurately calculate, in real time, the market value of
every acre of Federal land in the United States;
(ii) enable an employee or agent of the Department of the
Interior to manually modify factors relating to the valuation
model used by the modeling tool to calculate, in real time,
the market value of Federal land based on new assumptions
relating to that land;
(iii) provide technical anchors relating to market data--

(I) to ensure the ongoing integrity of the modeling tool;
and
(II) to ensure that the land values determined by the
modeling tool are defensible and based on sound and generally
accepted valuation methodologies;

(iv) assimilate, in a visual interface--

(I) market data, including the availability of mineral
extraction, energy production, water management, timber
management, agricultural uses, and recreational uses with
respect to the applicable land; and
(II) geographic information systems (commonly known as
``GIS'') data relating to all Federal land eligible for
payments under the payment in lieu of taxes program;

(v) tie the model used by the tool to market sources,
allowing the model to automatically adjust and reflect
current market conditions; and
(vi) allow a user of the modeling tool--

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(I) to estimate the value of Federal land as that land is
currently used; and
(II) to estimate changes in that value due to future uses
under various scenarios under private or public ownership.

(3) Contracts and consultants.--The Secretary may contract
or consult with any public or private entity to analyze data,
conduct research, or develop a model that would contribute to
the report and modeling tool developed by the Secretary under
this subsection.
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