Description:
S. 2297 would direct the Forest Service to convey roughly 66 acres of federal land to Custer County, South Dakota, at fair market value if the county submits a request to purchase the land. CBO expects that under the bill, the county would submit such a request. Because the bill would require Custer County to pay all costs associated with the conveyance, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no significant effect on spending subject to appropriation. According to the Forest Service, the affected land currently produces no income from mineral or geothermal leasing or from timber production, and the Forest Service does not expect any such income in the future. Under the bill, proceeds from the conveyance (which would be recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts, or reductions in direct spending) would be available to the Forest Service to spend without further appropriation. Based on land values for similar tracts in Custer County, CBO estimates that those receipts would total less than $500,000 and would be offset by an expenditure thereafter; thus, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be negligible. Because enacting S. 2297 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. The bill would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2297 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. S. 2297 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
