San Juan County Commissioners have unanimously approved impact fees on future development that would help fund the Durango Fire Protection District and its needs for a growing community.
“The primary purpose is to make sure growth pays for itself,” said Willy Tookey, San Juan County administrator, “rather than the people that already live here.”
Because San Juan County accounts for only a small portion of the fire district’s coverage area, namely around Cascade Village near Purgatory Resort, the impact fees would not become official until approved by La Plata County and the city of Durango.
Megan Graham, spokeswoman for La Plata County, said the Board of County Commissioners is expected to vote on the matter sometime in August. Staff and city councilors with the city of Durango will have a study session July 25 on the issue.
Last year, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill that allows fire districts to impose an impact fee to help pay for capital development of fire and emergency resources to accommodate community growth.
As a result, the Durango Fire Protection District formulated a method to determine the impact future development in the areas the fire district serves in San Juan and La Plata counties, taking into account the department has seen a 7 percent increase in call volume each year for the last seven years.
“The challenge that we’ve got with the community growing as fast as ours is that the costs are what the costs are for us to continue to provide the service we’ve got,” said Deputy Chief of Operations Randy Black.
According to Tookey, the proposed fee would cost $988 per new home built in either county. For non-residential, it would cost $1,440 for the first 1,000 square feet, and then $1.44 for each additional square foot.
Black said even if the new impact fees are approved, it would cover only about 28 percent of the fire district’s capital needs over the next 20 to 30 years.
Chief Hal Doughty said previously that the new impact fees are an attempt to continue to fund itself. Otherwise, the fire district may be forced into a reduction of services.
“The question becomes: Should the cost for new increased call volume for new people and buildings fall on existing taxpayers, or should the new construction help buy into the existing system?” Black said. “That’s the crux of impact fees.”
Ryan Voegeli, president of the Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado, said he views the proposed impact fees as another burden on developers and homebuilders.
“Our clients are just jaw-dropped when they see the fees on some of these homes before we even put a shovel in the ground,” said Voegeli, referencing other development costs associated with the city and county.
Voegeli said that the cost of materials for construction, on top of a series of development fees, are prohibitive to the community’s desire for affordable housing, and have the adverse effect of slowing growth.
“It seems like the burden is being put on the areas that are growing, but we’re not the ones causing the area to grow,” he said. “We’re just putting in the infrastructure.”
The fire district contests the idea that new impact fees will slow development and stunt growth, pointing to Three Springs and Edgemont Ranch, which are two of the biggest areas of growth that are subject to other impact fees.
“It would seem logical (impact fees) would slow down growth, but the reality and statistics show that’s not the case,” Black said. “We’re trying to find appropriate ways to distribute the increasing expense and need on the fire district so it’s not all landing back on the laps of existing taxpayers.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
