2024 Post Legislative Session Update from Speaker Julie McCluskie and Senator Dylan Roberts

Speaker Julie McCluskie and Senator Dylan Roberts presented the State of Colorado legislative update to Town Council, which included 525 bills that were passed during the last legislative session. Senator Roberts emphasized the key topics of this legislative session which were affordable housing, healthcare and behavioral health, and property taxes.

Town Council discussed:

• SB24-233, which creates a long-term reduction to Coloradan’s property tax starting with the 2025 property tax year. This bill was introduced and passed in response to the significant increase in property tax across the state, specifically the mountain region who saw an average increase of 43%.
• Council also discussed how do we define success in relation to affordable housing. The State is currently working on SB24-174, which will help define affordable housing on a regional level. Starting December 31, 2026, every municipality will need to do a Housing Needs Assessment that will be submitted to the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), so the state can better understand the housing needs on a regional and local level.
• Additionally, Council expressed their support for redrawing the transit regions as it relates to the Intermountain Transportation Planning Region (IMTPR), so that the mountain region has more of a voice and potentially could receive more dollars allocated from Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for road repairs and maintenance.
• Lastly, HB24-1108, concerning a study of the Colorado property and casualty insurance markets for HOAs, timeshares and condo hotels was briefly discussed.

Summit Combined Housing Authority Presentation

Corrie Burr, the Director of the Summit Combined Housing Authority (SCHA), met with the Frisco Town Council to discuss what duties SCHA performs for Frisco and gave an overview of the work SCHA is doing for the Summit County community, which can be found in the agenda as attachment 1.

Summit Combined Housing Authority (SCHA) was first established in 2002, with the same purpose that remains today; to plan, finance, acquire, construct, reconstruct or repair, maintain, manage, and operate housing projects and programs for families of low or moderate income and for employees located in Summit County. SCHA is a stand-alone, quasi-governmental entity run by a board of directors that consists of one member and an alternate from each jurisdiction.

The current areas of focus for SCHA include the following:

• Application Management: The SCHA manages all applications for deed restricted properties in Summit County, including lotteries associated with sales and resales.
• Annual Deed Monitoring: This is done annually to ensure covenant compliance.
• Resale Calculations: SCHA prepares and manages all resale calculations for appreciation-capped, deed restricted properties in Summit County. There are multiple calculations across the County.
• Covenant Questions: SCHA fields multiple covenant and property questions from the community daily. With many different covenants, it can be confusing for the community.
• Down Payment Assistance: SCHA has a down payment assistance program through the Summit Revolving Loan Fund which is currently being updated to include HOA assessments and maintenance on deed restricted properties. The board just approved improvements to its loan program, which now caps loans at $45,000.

Town Council discussed the current lotteries for workforce housing units across the county, which includes 60+ deed restricted units that will be available for both rent and sale. Ms. Burr emphasized that deed restrictions should always match the goal of the project. Council commended the work the SCHA is doing within the community and stated that this is what an effective county-wide collaboration looks like.

Natural Medicine Code Amendments

In the coming months the state of Colorado will adopt the Natural Medicine Health Act of 2022, which includes the licensure and operation of healing centers; an entity licensed by the department that is organized and operated as a permitted organization, where individuals may receive natural medicine services that include the guided administration of various types of natural medicine which will include administering psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.

Under the Act, municipalities are granted authority to regulate the time, place and manner of the operation of healing centers, but may not prohibit their operation entirely, nor prohibit the provision of natural medicine services if a facility or individual has been approved by the state. The intent and effect of the Act is to decriminalize the use and possession (but not the sale) of certain natural medicine (defined at section 12- 170-103(h) of the Act), and to adopt a medical model for those substances that recognizes both the emerging science on the effectiveness of the medical use of these substances when combined with therapy.

Town Attorney, Thad Renaud, sought guidance from Town Council on the extent of regulations desired in relation to the Natural Medicine Health Act of 2022 to regulate the operation of healing centers and at which individuals may receive natural medicine. Council advised staff they would like to move forward with including healing centers as part of the existing medical office definition in the Unified Development Code and requested Staff bring forward an amendment to this effect.

Development Agreement with NHP for Workforce Housing at 101 West Main Street

The Town of Frisco amended the development agreement with the NHP Foundation (NHPF) for Workforce Housing at 101 West Main Street. This amendment includes an additional loan of $1 million from the Town’s Housing Fund to close a financing gap and $1 million for the Town to purchase 1,500 square feet of commercial condo space. Town of Frisco already committed a $2.5 million loan from the Housing Fund to assist in the purchase of the property at 101 W Main Street with the NHPF. This project includes 52 for rent affordable units for a total of $36 million, with the Town contributing $4.5 million to the project: $3.5 will be a loan that could come back to the Town to create more affordable housing projects or programs in the future out of the proceeds of the project, and $1 million would be realized in the ownership by the Town for the 1,500 square foot commercial space.

Council approved Ordinance 24-10 amending the development agreement on second reading.

Frisco Town Council Meetings: Ways to Participate

Frisco Town Council meetings are available to view via Zoom and YouTube, and are also held in person to make Town Council meetings easier to access for everyone.

The public can provide comment during meetings via Zoom or in person (not YouTube), and a public comment period will be available at 7:00pm; during the consideration of ordinances; and at the discretion of Town Council during work session items, which are discussions that don’t require a formal vote by Town Council and do not require public comment. Again, this hybrid approach is intended to make Town Council meetings more accessible, and meeting recordings will typically also be made available the day after a meeting in the meeting archive with agenda topics bookmarked to the discussions in the video.