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Secure Rural Schools - Payments

Payment Amounts

1908 Act (amended) 25% payments

 View these reports if you are one of the 73 counties that elected to receive 25% payments instead of Secure Rural Schools payments (ASR 10 series reports).

 

Secure Rural Schools Payments - (ASR 18 series reports)

*Secure Rural Schools payment reports are available through FY23. Reports for FY24 were not generated as SRS has not been reauthorized.

 

National Forest Statement of Receipts

Annual income used to calculate 25% payments (ASR 04 & 13 series reports)

 

Final Total Payment Reports

Shows sequestration (5.7%) for each state and county (ASR 19 series reports)

 

SRS Sequestration in Previous Years - shows sequestration (5.7%) for previous years.

*Sequestration is how the federal government applies mandatory spending cuts across most programs and agencies during the budgeting process.

Choosing your payment

Congress periodically allows counties to choose one of two types of payments. The last opportunity was in 2013. Payment selections are locked.

1908 Act (amended) 25% Payments

25% of gross receipts generated on Forest Service lands during the fiscal year is distributed. Payments are to be used to benefit public schools and public roads of the county or counties in which the national forest is situated.  The annual payment is made as soon as practical after the end of the Fiscal Year. The Forest Service calculates payments and sends letters to the States advising them of the amount and of each county's percentage of the payment based on the county's acreage in the national forest.  Currently, we are using 25% of a rolling 7 year average.

Secure Rural Schools Payments

This act provides for the stabilization of payments to the states due to the decline in the timber industry and the associated receipts.  The provisions of the Act include three titles, and the payments to the States are under Title I and Title III. If counties elected to receive the Secure Rural Schools payments, they also chose how the funds are allocated between the three Titles, as illustrated by the table below.

Secure Rural Schools County Funds Distribution

Title NumberMinor Distribution
(<$100,000)		Modest Distribution
($100,000 - $349,999)		Major Distribution ($350,000 and above)
Title I100% OR 80%-85%80%-85% AND80%-85% AND
Title II15%-20% between Titles II & III15%-20% between Titles II & III8%-20%
Title III15%-20% between Titles II & III15%-20% between Titles II & III<7%

Note: These guidelines apply to the value of a county’s distribution at the time of election (2013). Counties cannot change their elections, even if they have moved into a new distribution bracket.

Calculating Payments

Secure Rural Schools payments are calculated using a variety of factors including acres of Federal land within an eligible county, an income adjustment based on the per capita personal income for each county.

Each eligible county’s payment is calculated using multiple steps:

Step 1. Determine the three highest revenue-sharing payments (high-three) between FY1986 and FY1999 for each eligible county, and calculate the average of the three.

Step 2. Calculate the proportion of these payments in each eligible county: divide each county’s high-three average [from Step 1] by the total of the high-three averages in all eligible counties, with separate calculations for FS lands.

Step 3. Calculate the proportion of Forest Service lands in each eligible county: divide each eligible county’s FS acreage by the total FS acreage in all eligible counties.

Step 4. Determine the base share for counties with FS lands: add the payment proportion [from Step 2] and the acreage proportion [from Step 3] and divide by 2.

Step 5. Calculate each county’s income adjustment: divide the per capita personal income in each county by the median per capita personal income in all eligible counties, and then square the result.

Step 6. Divide each county’s base share [from Step 4] by its income adjustment [from Step 5].

Step 7. Calculate each county’s adjusted share: divide each county’s result from Step 6 by the total for all eligible counties.

Step 8. Calculate each county’s payment: multiply each county’s adjusted share by the full funding amount.

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