"Maybe the federal Interior Department should stick to managing land and natural resources and let someone else handle the cash.

Montanans are well aware of the agency's long history of mismanaging Indian trust money, to the point that a decade-long lawsuit still hasn't sorted it out, even though a multibillion-dollar settlement was reached in the case six months ago.

Now comes a low-key, mid-month announcement by Secretary Ken Salazar that the federal government's payments in lieu of taxes were going to be late. He said:

"We expect to make the 2010 Payment in Lieu of Taxes payments in late July, 2010. Due to unavoidable circumstances we will experience a delay from our normal distribution."

Typically the money is paid to counties in June, before their new fiscal years begin.

Salazar's two-sentence announcement elicited a collective "Huh?" from across the West."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Interior must find a way to get PILT money to counties (The Great Falls Tribune 6/27)

Relevant Documents:
Press Release: Interior Announces FY2010 PILT Payment Schedule (DOI 6/18)