Weld County, Colorado

Road Impact Fee Study
   

For Weld County, Duncan Associates, in association with Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, designed road impact fees that were applied only in two high-growth areas along Interstate 25. One area was in the northwestern corner of the county between the two fast growing cities of Fort Collins and Greeley and the other was in the southwestern corner of the county adjacent to the Denver metro area. Both areas were experiencing extensive urban growth and bringing rapid change to largely undeveloped, agricultural rural areas. The County and the cities within these areas identified the need to prepare roadway plans to accommodate anticipated development and to

implement a fee financing mechanism to fund roads. Developing a common fee within each area avoided competition between jurisdictions over fee amounts and represented a rational approach to funding improvements whose benefits extended beyond jurisdictional lines. The County adopted fees for both areas in 1999 and Duncan Associates was retained to update the fees for a redrawn southwestern service area that excluded some cities two years later. Further refinements were made to the system in 2002.