For general contractor Carl Andersen, who owns Andersen Enterprises, the impact fees proposed by Northeast Teller County Fire Protection District will add to the cost of building.

“If you take a 2,000 square foot residential home, at $2.30 a square foot for the impact fee, that’s a $4,600 addition to the cost,” Andersen said. “As a contractor, I see the $2.30 a square foot a substantial stumbling block for some customers to be able to afford.”

For instance, he added, the fees are on top of already high prices due to inflation.

“Just yesterday, I had a potential new build that we’ve been a year in the design and bidding process put the project on hold because of the increased cost of materials and labor,” Andersen said.

A notice to Andersen and other builders from Gulfeagle Supply warns of a 5 to 10% increase in residential roofing products and a 15 to 20% increase in metal roofing products, effective June 1.

“People looking to build or remodel their homes are already struggling with the cost,” Andersen said.

As a result of SB24-194 and NETCOs proposal, Anderson expresses concern about the ability for a developer to want to provide affordable housing in Teller County and Woodland Park.

“This has the potential to impact affordable housing but, in the legislation, there is an ‘out’ for fire districts,” Andersen said.  

The legislative document states that these special districts may waive the fee for the development of low-or moderate-income housing, or affordable employee housing.

Yet Andersen seems conflicted over the issue.

“Teller County and Woodland Park have always been supportive of their first responders,” Andersen said. “As a former volunteer firefighter, I understand the need for our first responders to have good reliable gear and quality training to do their jobs effectively.”

Andersen acknowledges that NETCO has a major gap in funding for first responders.  

“I think this SB-194 is unfortunately a band-aid of not really addressing the funding issues that our special districts and first responders are facing,” he said. “Is this fee really fixing the problem?”

On the other hand, Andersen sees a hole in the expectations.

“For instance, if just two construction projects, residential and non-residential, pull out, the district collects no fee at all,” Andersen said. “It’s a big unknown at this point. We need to know how far this is going to go.”