Council votes no on library impact fees

In June, the Fort Collins City Council decided to no longer collect impact fees on new residential development to support expansion of the local library system.

Fort Collins impact fees were used to build the $6.6 million Council Tree Library, which opened in south Fort Collins in 2009.

In 2006, voters approved formation of a library district, funded by a 3-mill property tax. According to Jeff Barnes, finance director for the Poudre River Public Library District, the property tax generated $6.8 million for library operations in 2009. That same year, the Fort Collins impact fee raised $61,000 for the district.

In 2009, Fort Collins gave the library district the balance of impact fees collected since 1996, over and above what was needed to build the Council Tree facility. That accumulated amount was $982,000, including fees collected in 2009.

Over the years, Barnes said, revenue raised by the library expansion fee has ranged from $61,000 to $729,000, depending on the level of building activity in Fort Collins.

Barnes noted that no other governmental entities within the PRPLD have charged impact fees to support library expansions, either before or after the library district was formed.

The library district covers roughly the area of Poudre School District, with the exception of Wellington and Red Feather Lakes, which have their own public libraries.