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Hamilton County rakes in $4.2 million in PILOT funds

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By Ansley Haman 3 min read

photo Hamilton County Commissioner Joe Graham

BY THE NUMBERS$4,248,680: Total PILOT funds collected$3,628,553: Total PILOT funds allocated to schools$97,272: Total designated for City of CollegedaleSource: Hamilton County Trustee’s Office

Hamilton County Schools officials now have $3.6 million in their coffers for education.

The money is the schools’ portion of $4.2 million in payment-in-lieu-of-tax funds collected during the 2011 tax year by County Trustee Bill Hullander’s office. The funds were due by Feb. 29.

Known as PILOT funds, the money comes from the county’s deals used to lure businesses such as Volkswagen to the area. Under PILOT, businesses are allowed to pay only the schools’ portion of their property taxes for a certain number of years.

Hullander’s office finalized the PILOT numbers over the weekend on an account that created a political wrestling match between county commissioners and school officials for more than a year, culminating with Commissioner Fred Skillern figuratively calling schools Superintendent Rick Smith to the mat.