.jpg)
The Cortez Fire Protection District recently notified county and city officials about its intent to begin collecting an impact fee.
The fee would apply only to new builds within the 169 square miles of the Cortez Fire Protection District, “and it’s based on what CFPD will need in the next five years,” said Cortez Fire Chief Roy Wilkinson.
The one-time charge would cost new residential builds $847 total. Nonresidential (commercial) builds would pay $718 per 1,000 square feet, or $0.718 a square foot.
If established, CFPD could make roughly $55,000 a year from it.
A bill passed the Colorado legislature in 2024 that authorized the district to establish such fee themselves; before last year, they would’ve had to partner with the city or county to make it happen, said Cortez Fire Battalion Chief Rick Spencer.
But because the department secured a sales tax on the ballot in November, “people are saying it looks bad,” Wilkinson said.
Money from the sales tax is for daily operations, whereas the impact fee would act as a “savings account” for capital items the department will need down the road, Wilkinson said.
“We can’t use that money for anything but capital costs,” he said.
To be clear, “capital costs” are improvements like replacing the water tenders, ladder trucks and securing additional fire stations.
Wilkinson added that conversations about installing the fee started before the sales tax.
In fact, the conversation started because of Cortez Fire’s developing district; as “demand for fire protection and other emergency services provided by the district increases, (it’s) ultimately necessitating a proportionate investment in facilities and rolling stock,” according to CFPD’s specialized impact fee study prepared by the Durango-based RPI Consulting.
“We want to make sure we have coverage as our workload rises,” Wilkinson said.
The study explained that demand for Cortez Fire services “is generated by housing units, businesses and institutions,” and it cited data from the Montezuma County assessor to illustrate this: “residential units in the Cortez Fire Protection District grew from 5,502 units in 2003 to 6,348 units in 2023,” it said.
In that same 10-year time period, “Nonresidential floor area grew by an average of 27,000 sq. foot per year,” and reached 3.7 million square feet at the end of 2023.
As residential units and commercial square footage grew, so did call volumes.
In 2013, Cortez Fire responded to 1,612 calls; in 2023, it responded to 3,595.
“In order to ensure that the district is able to continue to provide services as development occurs,” it created a Capital Improvement Plan that highlights what it needs “in the next five years,” the study said.
Cortez Fire estimated $4.4 million in facilities improvements – like renovating and rebuilding existing stations or building new – and another $3.475 million in “rolling stock purchases,” which accounts for things like a new ladder and brush truck.
There’s a 60-day review period to give community members an opportunity to review the impact fee study, ask questions and provide feedback. The county and city clerk both have copies of it, and those interested to be involved can contact those officials or the Cortez Fire Protection District.
The review period ends in mid-February, and then Cortez Fire’s board of directors “will make a final decision to move forward with implementation,” Wilkinson said.
“There will be a date or time period set for the implementation, if so decided,” he said.
