Fort Collins staff propose new impact-fee structure; council asks for phased, lower-cost options

City staff on Tuesday presented a proposed overhaul of Fort Collins’ impact-fee schedule, telling the City Council that the changes are intended to align fees with the city’s updated land use code and more recent replacement costs.

The presentation, led by Josh Birx, sustainability services deputy director, and staff member Jen Posnanevich, proposed three major changes: more granular square-foot categories for residential units (expanding roughly from five to about seven categories), different fee schedules by unit type (single-family detached, attached single-family, multifamily), and splitting the current general-government capital expansion fee into two fees (government facilities and government capital equipment). The plan also updates the underlying replacement-cost study used to calculate fees; the current fee schedule is still based on a 2017 study and the city code calls for updates about every five years.

Why it matters: impact fees are charged to new development to offset the city’s cost to provide infrastructure and services. Staff said the proposed changes would increase fees for many larger single-family detached units while lowering fees for many multifamily units, shifting how new development pays for parks, police, fire and transportation capacity.

Staff summary and examples Josh Birx explained that Fort Collins uses a buy‑in approach: the replacement cost of existing capital assets is divided by current population and the…