HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 11/17/2015 - RESOLUTION 2015-100 SUPPORTING THE LARIMER COUNTYAgenda Item 13
Item # 13 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY November 17, 2015
City Council
STAFF
Mark Jackson, PDT Deputy Director
SUBJECT
Resolution 2015-100 Supporting the Larimer County Proposal to Use County Mill Levy Funds for Interstate 25
(I-25) Improvements.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to provide a Council Resolution supporting Larimer County’s proposal to reassign a
portion of its Road and Bridge Levy funds specifically for improvements to I-25 for a period of five years. This
proposal does not modify the total mill levy or decrease the amount of Road and Bridge funds shared with Fort
Collins. This item supports Council Priority for I-25 funding; Strategic Plan Objective Transportation 6.1, 6.4.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
Larimer County proposes to temporarily reapportion part of its General Fund mill levy funds to the County’s
Road and Bridge Fund for a period of five years. These reapportioned funds are estimated to total $5.3 million
over the course of the five year period. The County proposes using these revenues for improvements and local
match opportunities on the I-25 Corridor within Larimer County.
Fort Collins currently receives approximately $550,000 per year from the County Road and Bridge Fund. This
proposal will not affect the amount of funds Fort Collins currently receives. Because of increased property
valuations, only the resulting incremental increase in revenue will be directed to I-25 uses. These funds can go
to specific smaller I-25 improvement projects, or be used in combination with other funds (e.g., Colorado
Department of Transportation (CDOT), partnership opportunities) as local match for potential Resiliency Grant
funds or other funding program opportunities that may arise. Council provided a letter and Resolution of
support (2015-089) for CDOT’s Presidential Challenge Resiliency Grant application on October 20, 2015.
In addition to the funds identified for I-25, the County also proposes allocating a portion of the County’s
incremental mill levy funds (approximately $4.7 million) to go to a county project that would have benefits to
residents in all of Larimer County. The proposed project is the expansion of CR 19 (Taft Hill Road in Fort
Collins) to four lanes between Horsetooth & Harmony. Taft Hill Road carries a current daily volume of 22,000
(2013) and serves a large portion of the residents. This portion of Taft Hill Road lies within the City’s Growth
Management Area (GMA) boundary, serves numerous County destinations including the Larimer County
Landfill and Horsetooth Reservoir, and is constrained and congested.
Next steps involve Larimer County working collaboratively with local governments to develop an
Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) outlining the use of these funds and addressing statutory requirements for
sharing back these funds to the County.
Agenda Item 13
Item # 13 Page 2
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Larimer County’s proposal does not modify the total mill levy, and does not decrease the amount of Road and
Bridge funds currently received by the City of Fort Collins. Creation of a source of local match funding is
advantageous in order to take advantage of funding partnerships and grant opportunities that may arise to help
improve the I-25 corridor.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
The proposal was presented and discussed at the October 22, 2015 Regional Coordination meeting of local
agency managers and elected officials.
RESOLUTION 2015-100
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUPPORTING THE LARIMER COUNTY PROPOSAL TO USE COUNTY MILL LEVY
FUNDS FOR INTERSTATE 25 (I-25) IMPROVEMENTS
WHEREAS, Interstate 25 (“I-25”) serves as the primary north-south highway connection
for Northern Colorado including Fort Collins; and
WHEREAS, I-25 is the primary roadway route for regional connectivity to commerce,
health care, education and employment; and
WHEREAS, I-25 is designated as a federal freight route; and
WHEREAS, I-25 in Northern Colorado suffered damage and prolonged closure as a
result of the September 2013 floods; and
WHEREAS, it is critical that I-25 roads and bridges be made more resilient to impacts
from weather emergencies and natural disasters; and
WHEREAS, the Colorado Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) is making an
application for a Risk and Resiliency grant, through a Presidential Challenge, to replace the
Cache la Poudre Bridge, the Big Thompson Bridge, and the Little Thompson Bridge and to
repair the Saint Vrain Bridge (collectively, the “Bridges”); and
WHEREAS, CDOT has identified these Bridges as ‘pinch points’ that currently restrict
expansion of the number of lanes on I-25 in northern Colorado; and
WHEREAS, the Risk and Resiliency grant for the Bridges is a portion of a larger grant
application for the entire State of Colorado that is scheduled to be evaluated and awarded by the
end of 2015; and
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the grant request will need matching local
funds to be viable and that Larimer County should provide a portion of that match; and
WHEREAS, the City Council understands that the increased property valuations for
Larimer County property owners in 2015 provides an opportunity to temporarily increase the
Road & Bridge Mill levy for a period of five years without detriment to other County programs,
without decreasing the amount currently shared back to local agencies, and without modifying
the total mill levy; and
WHEREAS, assessed valuations on properties in municipalities are shared between the
municipality and Larimer County and assessed valuations on properties in the unincorporated
areas go to Larimer County; and
WHEREAS, on October 22, 2015, the Larimer County Board of Commissioners
presented at the Larimer County Joint Regional Meeting to the eight communities within
Larimer County (Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, Estes Park, Wellington, Timnath, Windsor,
and Johnstown) the concept of temporarily moving General Fund mill levy to Road & Bridge
mill levy with each local government contributing their increased portion to I-25 improvements
and the concept has been well received and verbally supported; and
WHEREAS, the reallocation is estimated to generate approximately $5.3 million over the
five years for use on I-25 and the remaining Larimer County funds, estimated at approximately
$4.7 million, will be used on a regional project(s) that will benefit residents of the County
including those residing within the eight communities listed previously; and
WHEREAS, the Larimer County Board of Commissioners has asked that each
community pass a resolution supporting the temporary reallocation of this portion of the
County’s General Fund mill levy for I-25 for Larimer County budget approval purposes and will
work with said communities to develop an intergovernmental agreement.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS that it hereby supports Larimer County’s shift of funds from the County’s General
Fund to the County’s Road and Bridge Fund for a period of five years, increasing the Road and
Bridge revenues by approximately $2,000,000 per year for the purposes of making
improvements to Interstate 25.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this
17th day of November, A.D. 2015.
_________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk