Fire district outlines plan to increase impact fees to fund stations, training and apparatus

Windsor–Severance Fire Rescue officials briefed Severance town leaders on Feb. 24 about a revised impact-fee study intended to fund future fire stations, apparatus and training facilities. The district said new state law allows special districts to collect fees directly but that it chooses to keep the current arrangement in which the Town of Severance collects the fees on the district’s behalf as a convenience for applicants.

The district’s fire marshal, Sandy Fredersen, told council members that impact fees may only be used to pay for expansion tied to growth — for example, land and buildings for new stations and equipment — and cannot be used to pay salaries. Fredersen said the district collected about $287,000 in 2025 (an 8.8% drop from 2024) and currently holds roughly $2,000,000 in its impact-fee account, but expects to draw that down as projects advance.

Presenters described three planning documents that informed the study: a five-year strategic plan, a resource-needs assessment and an updated staffing assessment. The district said it expects to need a new response resource at Station 1 by roughly 2029 and enough firefighters and administrative staff by 2035–36 to maintain service levels. Officials cited National Fire Protection Association staffing benchmarks and studies from NIST and UL showing benefits to 4-person crews for safety and efficiency.

Officials said they halted a prior methodology in 2024 and re-ran a 2025 study tied to the district’s capital plan to better reflect planned capital needs. The district acknowledged the revised fees will not immediately reach the goal of growth paying 80% of a new station’s cost and that it may take several years to close the gap. The district also noted a long procurement lead time for apparatus; one ladder truck ordered this year has a multi-year build timeline and rising costs.

Developers and staff at two stakeholder meetings raised concerns about steep near-term increases. District leaders said they had tried to phase increases, offered developers a one-year pause on the last study, and continue to seek collaborative options; they reported some developers nevertheless asked for higher fees on subdivisions and some even offered written support for modest increases. The board plans to present a form of intergovernmental agreement at Severance’s March 10 council meeting asking the town to continue collecting the district’s fees.

Next steps: the district and town staff will answer written follow-up questions ahead of the March 10 council meeting, when the council will be asked to approve the agreement for fee collection. No formal town action on fee levels was taken at the work session.