While Colorado Springs and many other cities are dealing with tumultuous local budgets, the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department is expecting a fairly stable run into 2026.

Building official Roger Lovell presented the department’s proposed budget to the Colorado Springs City Council during a Monday morning work session, which was very similar to its 2025 budget.

The department expects to bring in around $21.3 million in revenue from permit fees for the second year in a row. The Regional Building Department is self-funded and separate from the city and county governments, so all of its annual revenue comes from building fees.

Spiking costs for medical coverage for the department’s employees are driving up expenses for 2026. Lovell said PPRBD expects to see around a 12% cost increase for medical coverage, but the department is budgeting for up to a 28% increase from this year. Even with the expenses, Lovell told the council he hopes the department will come in under budget and will not have to draw more than $1 million from its savings.

“At this point in the year, it doesn’t look like we will reach that maximum, but we are in a very stable place this year,” Lovell said.

Councilman David Leinweber said he felt fine about the department potentially using its reserve funds because of its effectiveness. Building permits in Colorado Springs and El Paso County are being approved in two or three weeks, while building departments in other counties across the state are taking two or three months.

“It’s much easier for us to have confidence to say ‘absolutely,’ because you guys are doing such a good job. That’s why it is important to highlight that piece,” Leinweber said.

Permitting numbers have dipped from this time in 2024. As of the end of July, the number of permits issued for single-family homes in the Pikes Peak region had declined around 5% from the same point in 2024. The total valuation of all the construction permitted in El Paso County had dropped by a similar amount.