As new developments in the area served by Northeast Teller County Fire Protection District increase the risk of fire and the ability to respond, Chief Tyler Lambert and the board are proposing impact fees.

The fees would apply once to new construction or remodels that expand the footprint.

The fees are an alternative to asking district voters to approve an increase in the 13.182 mill levy or to seek a designated sales tax.

“The issue is that we don’t want to impact our citizens by asking for more taxes,” said John Gomes, who chairs the NETCO board.

Colorado Senate Bill 24-194 allows special districts that provide emergency services to impose an impact fee on certain new construction and to levy a sales tax for general additional revenue for district services.

According to a study by BBC Research & Consulting, calculating residential impact fees is based on the finished square footage of dwelling units. For residential developments, BBC recommends that the district charge $2.30 per square foot with varying fees for non-residential.

Because the board decided not to charge for new homes less than 1,200 square feet, Gomes’ figures differ from the BBC’s estimate of annual revenue from the fees.  

“Let’s put this in perspective; we’re talking $115,000 roughly, based on annual growth rate of 0.67 percent for residential and 0.90 percent for nonresidential,” he said. “The board has the responsibility and obligation to determine every three to four years where we are heading.”

The funds will be in a special interest-bearing account, Gomes added.  

“The fees do not pay for fighting wildfires but for equipment, apparatus, anything that has a shelf life of five years,” Gomes said.

From $2.44 per square foot for retail and commercial to $3.31 for office space, the fees depend on the type of development.

For Lambert and Gomes, the story is in the 34-year-old ladder truck with a replacement cost of $1.5 million, which includes a delivery time of five years.  

With new development, possibly high-rise apartments, a ladder truck is key to meeting the demands of growth.  

“So, we’re living on borrowed time,” Gomes said.

Unwilling to risk not having a ladder truck, Lambert recently bought a 2003 ladder truck during an auction in Longmont, beating out other bidders at $64,000.  

“For us, it’s a life and safety issue; we need a ladder truck to go up 2 or 3 stories high,” Gomes said, adding that it’s no longer possible to buy parts for repairs. “It’s that simple.”

Denied in the application for federal or state grants, Gomes and Lambert instead wrote grants for a training tower that would serve all local fire departments and their volunteers.

“If we had a facility that served mountain communities, Cripple Creek, Lake George, Four Mile, Florissant, Divide, our response time could be quicker,” Gomes said. “We got support for the grant from law enforcement for their entry into high rise buildings.”

There is some good news on the horizon. Lambert and Gomes received notice that the USDA Rural Development approved their application for a $529,000 grant to help fund the training tower, estimated to cost $994,000. The grant came through Sen. John Hickenlooper’s office, Gomes said.  For the remainder, the board is looking for possible options, including the Department of Local Affairs.

The fees, in some ways, are tied to quality of life.

“You see how Colorado Springs and the Monument area are growing. Where do people want to live?  They want to live in a mountain community, to get away from that metropolitan traffic, noise, so they’re going to be moving. But where? I don’t know,” Gomes said. “But we just need to be prepared.”

The district has given Teller County until June 15 to respond to the proposal; however, the county has no authority to halt or change the proposal. To date, the city of Woodland Park has not responded to the notice.  The BBC study is available at www.tellercounty.gov.