Payment in lieu of taxes

Okay, imagine you have a toy that you really love and play with every day. But you also know that you need to take care of it to make it last longer. So you decide to clean it every week and make sure it doesn't get damaged.

Now imagine that the toy is a big building or property that belongs to someone else, but it's located in your town or city. The owner of the building needs to take care of it just like you take care of your toy, but they also need to pay taxes to the town or city to help pay for things like schools, police officers, and roads.

But sometimes, the owner of the building might not have enough money to pay all the taxes they owe. In this case, the town or city might decide to let the owner pay less taxes, as long as they agree to also pay some money to the town or city every year to make up for it. This is called a "payment in lieu of taxes."

It's kind of like if someone borrowed a toy from you and said they couldn't pay you back with money right away, but they could give you some other toys to make up for it. The town or city is still getting some money to help pay for important things, and the owner of the building is still taking care of it, just like you take care of your toy.