Colorado brand commissioner outlines fee increases and efficiency plan to close budget shortfall
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Summary
The Department of Agriculture’s Brands Division reported expenses outpacing revenue and proposed a package of fee increases, process improvements and potential district redesigns to avoid drawing on the state treasury; proposed brand-assessment and inspection fee increases were presented to stakeholders for feedback.
Todd Ingley, Brand Commissioner, briefed the Agricultural Commission on a proposed set of fee increases and efficiency measures for the Division of Brands after the division’s expenses began to outpace revenue.
Ingley said the division has not raised daily fees since 2016 and that a combination of rising vehicle and repair costs, IT expenses and the state’s Step Pay increases pushed the division toward a projected shortfall. He said the division drives roughly 1.3 million miles annually, inspects millions of head and manages about 32,000 registered brands.
Under the plan Ingley described, key changes under consideration include raising country cattle inspection fees from $0.65 to $1.00 (with corresponding proportional changes for feedlot and slaughter inspections), increasing horse inspections from $2 to $5, and raising the brand assessment from $3 to $500 per registered brand during the quinquennial assessment. He and division staff emphasized simultaneous operational reforms—vehicle leasing options, database replacement, paperless processing, vacant‑position reviews, and an internal efficiency study—to reduce costs and preserve field service levels.
Ingley presented a rule‑making timeline and said public stakeholder meetings have been scheduled. He said without fee adjustments and efficiency gains the division could exhaust cash reserves and be forced to borrow from the state treasury, which would carry interest/penalty costs; the division projects a potential $2.8 million shortfall by the end of the next fiscal year if no action is taken.
Commissioners asked about on-site electronic payment capability; Ingley said the division is exploring credit‑card and satellite payment options where cell coverage is limited. The proposal is in the stakeholder outreach and rule‑making phase; no commission vote was requested at the May 15 meeting.
