FoCo in 15 Minutes | ADUs Take Off, Property Tax Changes, Fort Collins Tech Boom & AI at City Hall

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This is Living in Fort Collins, the podcast, and we are talking to you guys this week, July 20th through the 27th about things that are happening in Fort Collins, things that happen, city council discussions for the first time in a month, and things to do this week. We actually just jumped on a call with some people that are relocating here from the Hawaii area, and something called an ohana is pretty popular in that area. Essentially, a second house on a lot. And well, in 2024, Fort Collins and well, actually the state of Colorado passed a housing bill that essentially required municipalities to allow the construction of ADUs on any property in essentially the city limits. Now, ADU permits are rising.

Fee waivers are coming to Larimer County and Fort Collins. Let's see here, let's go. Accessory dwellings or applications are climbing year after year. In Larimer County alone, approvals grew from eight in 2021 to 28 in 25 with 16 already in the hopper this year. Fort Collins went from roughly one permit to a year to 11 applications and six approved plans and 58 conceptual reviews since 2024. Now, Larimer County's new backyard boost program waives 100% of county building permit fees, typically in the range of $2,000 to $15,000 for homeowners in unincorporated areas who agree to rent the unit at an affordable rate for at least three years. Funding covers an estimated eight to 10 projects. First come, first serve, a free workshop is set for 5.30 PM, August 20th at 200 West Oak Street.

Now, Fort Collins version of this arrives in 2027. Fee waivers, which are development fees currently that run around $20,000 per ADU plus $97,000 toward fee pre-approved ADU design plans homeowners can pull off the shelf. Basically what they will allow is they're going to be skipping architect and land planner costs entirely. So it's potential that you can get after it if you're in Larimer County, basically going right now, get those fee waivers going. In Fort Collins, it might be in your best interest to sit back and wait a little bit until 2027 to get those fee waivers and potentially pre-approved plans.

It'll be interesting how those work out with HOAs and if they essentially require HOAs to approve or agree to those because that'll be one of the biggest constraints for most is like building an entire building in your property that has to abide by HOA design standards and rules. And I'm guessing those pre-approved ADU designs that could be a library for the city of Fort Collins might not work. But if you're an area without an HOA, that might be something that you seriously look for. Let's go. Larimer County is rolling out monthly property tax payments through EquiPay. If you're paying your property taxes outside of escrow, you've got two options.

You can pay them in February and April or all of them in May, I believe it is. And so we pay in arrears, meaning that the property taxes that you're paying in the current year are for the prior year's property taxes. Larimer County Treasurer, Irene Josie, is encouraging property owners to consider EquiPay, a third-party service that converts property tax bills into predictable monthly installments instead of one or two lump sum payments each year. Enrollment is online. You can search by your partial ID, name or address, payment process automatically, and if the tax bill changes, the monthly amount recalculates on its own. It's available for any Larimer County property that does not already have taxes escrowed through a mortgage. Now, something to take note of is EquiPay is an independent vendor. The county does not endorse it and any agreement is between the taxpayer and the service.

So something to take note of there. I would say yeah, I mean especially if like you have paid off your property, don't have a loan on it, you're not escrowing. Those, you know, unless you're really disciplined and make sure that you've put away those monies for your annual property insurance and property taxes, they can come back and really they're a big chunk of change, especially if it's commercial. Fort Collins recently was ranked number five as the best place to visit but according to HGTV was ranked number two for among the best places for tech and number two for quality life. It was a new commercial cafe study that evaluated 70 Western metros, population of 200,000 plus on tech industry strength, density and growth of tech companies and jobs, median tech earnings, patent output and a composite quality of life index. Fort Collins finished second in the West on the quality of life index behind only Boulder while San Jose, San Francisco topped the overall tech rankings. The timing lines up with real momentum, you know, Broadcom's newly announced $1.5 billion tech Fort Collins expansion, you know, is the Chipstone designation, CSU's research pipeline. I think CSU Fort Collins is really slated to become a stronger tech hub for people that are moving here.

City council kind of a, you know, middle of the year brief. The quarter cent capital sales tax now is a draft for the 10-year spending schedule. Let's look at some of the spending on here. It's projected to raise about $102.7 million or about $11 million per year. The 2027-2028 slice totals $29 million. Transportation programs, $7.6 million for sidewalks, intersections, bike infrastructure and transport. Street scapes, $6.9 million. The community bike park of $5.7 million. The outdoor pickleball complex, $4.3 million. Affordable housing capital fund of $4.2 million and nature in the city of $414,000. It also includes bigger ticket items in the future like the Mulberry pool replacement for 2031-2035.

They are also in 2027-2028 budget is in belt tightening mode. Let's see here. The Fort Collins county taxable sales share has slid from roughly 70% in the county to about 52% since 2010. Retail sales have spread across the region and in 2026 revisions have already been cut by $15.4 million for the city sales tax. This includes 25 vacant positions that have been eliminated, a hiring freeze, a 1% trim to merit increases and a program reduction in streets, forestry and internal services departments were required to submit an 8% reduction proposal for the new budget. They are also looking at other things, the NERP financial system, cybersecurity, Southeast Community Center. Let's keep on moving forward though. Speed limit proposals are going to be coming to the city council this fall under the new vision zero priority. Zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2032. The staff's going to look at speed limits in neighborhoods and city wide speed limit proposals by Q4 of 2026. The safer streets northwest study is complete with design work underway. A harmony road safety study is procurement for Q3 of 2027 and the city reported a significant year over year decrease in fatal crashes so far in 2026. Fines are also increasing for vehicles parked in bike lanes and crosswalks. Moving on to things you can do this week. CSU Lagoon concert final evening this Wednesday. Cheyenne Frontiers week. This is their final week and final weekend.

This is the 130th granddaddy of them all. Rodeos daily from 1 to 4 pm. The grand parade Saturday starts at 9 am and then there's championship Sunday on July 26. If you're into ultra running, Never Summer 100k and 60k runs, not going to find me there, are in Gould State Forest State Park up the Poudre Canyon. You know this is going to be one of Colorado's most toughest and scenic ultra trail races. Gross. Not for me. Windsor movie in the park The Goonies this Friday July 24th starting at dusk at Boardwalk Park in Windsor. If you are in for some bluegrass you got the Rocky Grass Festival Friday through Sunday July 24 through 26 in Lyons just about an hour south of here. So plenty of things to do. Next week also there's kids in the park. We've got Friday July 31st July 4 to 7 pm at Twin Silo Park. This is free family friendly. There's going to be food trucks, parks, recreation. It's just going to be a good time. Now this is Living in Fort Collins the podcast. We are mid-summer. It is hot. Stay cool.

Be protected. Wear sunscreen and enjoy yourself. I appreciate you guys listening on a weekly basis. Do me a favor. Give me a rating, review. Let me know what your thoughts are. Share this with somebody who's looking to know more about what's going on in Fort Collins. Happenings, finances, city council, things to do. Appreciate you guys listening and until next week have a great day.