February 2006

City Council/City ManagerDoug Hutchinson, Mayor

Ben Manvel, District 1 Kurt Kastein, District 4Karen Weitkunat, District 2 Kelly Ohlson, District 5Diggs Brown, District 3 David Roy, District 6

Darin Atteberry, City Manager

City Hall300 LaPorte Ave.

P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580221-6505 • TDD: 224-6001

www.fcgov.com

This publication is available in large print, audio and on the web.

2005 Report

2005

Dear Citizens,If the year 2005 in Fort Collins could be

summarized in one word, it would be change. A new way of doing business began to take shape early in the year with a new City Manager, Mayor and City Council members. Together we began to consider how we ap-proach challenges, partner with our commu-nity, and create a place to live and work that is prosperous, innovative and conscientious of our environment and citizens.

We faced the challenges of slow revenue growth, rising operating costs, and the third year of wage and hiring freezes. The only way to address these challenges was through a significant shift in philosophy. Budgeting for Outcomes, or BFO, became our catalyst.

We evaluated what the priorities were for the community and then figured out how

to continue funding those and eliminating services that weren’t as important. At the culmination of this process, we had a new 2006-2007 Biennial Budget and a method that ensures City tax dollars are always spent on services that meet the goals of City Council and the community.

Aside from BFO, the City has continued to evolve and change for the better in 2005. This Report to the Community details of some of the great things we’ve accomplished throughout the community and sets the pace for an even better 2006.

Sincerely,

Doug Hutchinson Darin AtteberryMayor City Manager

Health and Safety• A Police Strategic Planning Process was implement-

ed to determine long range police staffing needs and officer deployment.

• To prepare for a community disaster, the Office of Emergency Services launched a review of the emer-gency planning procedure.

• Fort Collins Police partnered with CSU and other agencies to develop a riot suppression plan to safely and effectively deal with street riots and street parties.

• After 50 years in the same building, Police Services completed the design work on a 96,000 square-foot law enforcement facility. Construction at the Tim-berline/Drake location will begin Spring 2006.

• The Poudre Fire Authority opened Station 14 near Trilby and Timberline. The City funded a second ladder truck for south Fort Collins, and building modifications are underway at Station 5 to house the truck company.

• Fort Collins drinking water was rated among the best in the nation, surpassing all federal and state standards. To ensure good delivery to the com-munity, the City installed a new pumping station, improving water pressure in southwest Fort Collins.

• The City received $2.7 million dollars in a federal grant to continue building retention ponds in the Spring Creek drainage to protect against floods.

• The Oxbow Levee along the north bank of the Poudre River was constructed to provide increased flood protection for the Buckingham neighborhood and recreational areas south of Lincoln Avenue.

• The first step toward expanding Halligan Reservoir as a new water supply for the City began with an environ-mental impact study, expected to be complete in 2007.

• The City’s Geographic Information Services depart-ment entered into an agreement with the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) to provide mapping services for the City/County Computer Aided Dispatch system. This ensures that maps and addresses are consistent and up to date within the response area for public safety agencies.

Quality of Life/Customer Service• City Council approved a series of ordinanc-

es reaffirming occupancy limits in rental homes and lowering the burden of proof to facilitate enforcement.

• Offices were consolidated to form a new Neighborhood Services Office that includes code enforcement, support for neighborhood organizations and mediation services for neighbor disputes.

• The Gardens on Spring Creek created part-nerships with local Rotary Clubs, Great Out-doors Colorado, the Bohemian Foundation and others to fund the creation of a children’s garden that will be developed in 2006.

• The design for the new Northside Aztlan Community Center was completed, and construction will begin in 2006.

• The City constructed a ¾ mile section of the Power Trail from Horsetooth to Harmony, and the Poudre River Trail was widened and the asphalt was replaced with concrete.

• The Fort Collins Library broke its own records with 2.2 million checkouts and 2.5 million visits to the Library’s website and databases.

Report to the Community

Watch the State of the City Address with Mayor Hutchinson and City Manager Darin Atteberry on City Cable 14.

Check www.fcgov.com/cable14 for reply times. Video copies are also available at the public libraries.

to the Community

• 1,700 acres of open space was conserved in 2005, about half of that forming separators between Fort Collins and our neighboring communities.

• Council created a Land Conservation and Stew-ardship Board to advise Council on open space purchases and operations.

• The City launched a concerted effort to reduce the waste stream headed for the landfill by 50%. The curbside recycling program has been expanded to allow cardboard and paperboard to be recycled by residents.

• The air quality staff gained an extension for the vehicle emission testing program to continue ex-ploring alternatives to ensure clean vehicle tailpipe emissions.

• The City converted to using 25 percent of biodiesel fuel in City’s diesel fleet; 100% in 2006.

• City Council adopted new residential building codes that require more energy efficient homes.

• Climate Wise, a voluntary program for businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, sur-passed its initial 2010 goal and reduced emissions by 94,746 tons per year.

• Public improvements continued on Bobcat Ridge Natural Area in anticipation of a Fall 2006 opening. This is Fort Collins’ first regional natural area and spans over 2,600 acres.

Finances, Budget and the Economy• Total sales & use tax collections that fund many

City services was $72.4 million in 2005, the highest ever for the City. However, the total sales and use tax collections for general use were still slightly lower than budget projections by $236,000 (less than ½ percent of the target). This shortfall was more than offset by the strong performance from investment earnings. As a result of continual rate hikes by the Federal Reserve during 2005, the City’s General Fund earned $1 million from its in-vestment activity. This amount was $450,000 more than had been projected at the beginning of the year when the Federal Reserve’s funds rate stood at 2.25%.

• As it does every year, the City pursued grants and partnerships with other agencies to supplement revenues. The City received nearly $6.5 million in federal, state and local grants to fund various services.

• Budgeting for Outcomes laid the groundwork for the 2006-2007 budget. City Council identi-fied seven priority outcomes: improve economic health, a safer community, improve environmental health, improve neighborhood quality, improve cultural, recreational and educational opportuni-ties, improve transportation, and deliver a high performing government. “Offers” for achieving these results were ranked in order of priority, and those with higher priorities were funded.

• Citizens by a three-to-one margin rejected ending the collection of sales tax on groceries. Passage of that measure would have taken away $6 million in general fund revenue, doubling the amount of budget cutbacks the City needed to implement.

• Voters approved the continuation of the quarter-cent sales tax that funds street repair and repaving for 400 miles of City streets, and they also over-whelmingly approved a ten-year extension of the City’s capital improvements sales tax known as Building on Basics, or BOB. For the next ten years

BOB will provide funding for the new Museum/Discovery Center building, technology upgrades for libraries, theater improvements to the Lincoln Center, expansion of the Senior Center, community parks upgrades, and improving Harmony Road.

• The City and Colorado State University (CSU) es-tablished a strong working partnership to improve the transfer of CSU research into the everyday world, prompting economic growth potential for Fort Collins.

• CSU remains the largest employer in Fort Collins, and the City continued to urge state government to provide adequate state funding to both CSU and Front Range Community College.

• Intel was looking for a new location for its 300 Fort Collins research and development employees, and they chose to stay in Fort Collins.

• The Old Town Ice Rink made its debut for the holiday season and averaged 5,000 participants in the first month.

• Based on input from local developers, new City Codes and policies were developed to encourage redevelopment and infill projects.

• Construction on a 3.5 mile bike/pedestrian trail, known as the Mason Corridor Trail, from Prospect to Fossil Creek began late 2005 and will be com-pleted by 2006, making North-South alternative transportation more viable.

• Crews made improvements to East Vine Drive between Lemay Avenue and Merganser Drive with new asphalt and adding turn and bike lanes.

• Drake Road, from Timberline to Ziegler, expanded to a minor arterial street from its existing two-lane configuration. This completed the first phase of the Drake-Ziegler Improvement Project.

• In 2005, Dial-A-Ride Service increased 6.6% from the previous year as a result of improved service scheduling and the addition of Shamrock Taxi serving ambulatory riders.

• The Timberline Road Project design plans were finalized, and the City began preparing for the construction that will begin in 2006. This $8.6 million project will result in widening a one-mile segment of Timberline Road to four lanes between Drake to Prospect. Timberline Road is the most heavily congested street in the City.

Environment

62.0

64.0

66.0

68.0

70.0

72.0

74.0

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Sales & Use Tax Collections2000 - 2005

Halligan Reservoir

Transportation