CTIO outlines toll, congestion-fee revenue forecasts and outstanding project funding questions
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Summary
At a joint workshop CTIO staff reviewed the highway toll enterprise (fund 536) and CTIO operating fund (537) forecasts for FY27, highlighting growth from new I‑25 North segments and the first full-year congestion impact fee revenue while noting outstanding decisions on mountain rail, Floyd Hill financing and e‑470 transition costs.
Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO) staff briefed the CTIO board and Transportation Commission on Oct. 16 about toll and congestion-fee revenue forecasts and how those funds are being budgeted for operations, communications, debt service and corridor-specific programs.
Piper, the CTIO presenter, told the board that fund 536 (special revenue fund for corridor revenues) is expected to receive tolls, congestion impact fees and civil penalties; the staff projection used CDOT forecasts and currently shows about $253.7 million for the fund in the coming year. “That top left hand pie is the new congestion impact fee,” Piper said, noting FY27 will be the first full year of collections for the fee.
Why it matters: CTIO revenues fund corridor operations and also support corridor-specific programs, debt service and, in some cases, multimodal projects. New toll corridors coming into revenue (notably several newly tolled segments on I‑25 North) and the congestion fee are expected to be major revenue drivers in FY27. Staff also flagged recent declines in vehicle rentals and a shortfall of expected revenue tied to delayed toll commencements on some corridors.
Operational and budget items: CTIO staff outlined that most CTIO costs are toll-processing and customer service, transponder and equipment operations, corridor maintenance and communications. Debt service for the enterprise was cited at about $22.7 million for the fiscal year, covering debt on C‑470, the I‑25 projects and other corridors. Piper also said safety-and-toll-enforcement civil-penalty revenue typically funds the enforcement program; in the current budget that program’s costs run about 65–70% of the related revenue.
Outstanding items: Staff listed five items that remain unresolved and could affect FY27 planning: the prospective sale of Birmingham Yard (not yet reflected in the budget), costs for Mountain Rail phase 1 and joint-service implementation, start-up rail operational costs, a new financing structure for Floyd Hill debt/loans, and any transition costs tied to the CTIO–E‑470 tolling services agreement wind-down.
Process and next steps: CTIO staff said they will update forecasts as more corridor revenue data become available and will return to the board in February with a revised draft budget and a recommended FY27 work plan. Piper told the board she will bring a recommendation in February about whether the customary $1.5 million fee-for-service from CDOT is needed in FY27 or whether CTIO can be funded primarily from toll revenue.
Direct quote: “Most of our budget discussion is gonna focus on fund May. Right? This is our special revenue fund,” Piper said during the presentation, referring to fund 536.
Ending: The board requested additional detail on segment-level toll revenue for I‑25; staff agreed to provide a more granular segment-by-segment revenue breakout when available.
