§ 33-10-117 — State park access - fees - fund - definitions - rules

(1) (a) (I) By
July 1, 2024, the commission shall establish, by rule:

(A) A process for local governments to request an additional fee to be
charged on a daily vehicle pass that authorizes the use of a state park located
within the local government's geographic boundaries; and

(B) Criteria for approving a request made under subsection (1)(a)(I)(A) of this
section.

(II) The division shall not collect the fee from a state park visitor who holds
an annual or lifetime pass to visit state parks. The commission shall not
unreasonably withhold approval of a request to create the fee.

(b) The rules promulgated by the commission must set the fee so that the
fee:

(I) Does not exceed two dollars, but the commission shall adjust the fee
every five years to account for inflation or deflation as provided in subsection (1)(c)
of this section, and the adjustment may allow the fee to exceed two dollars; and

(II) Is rounded to the nearest dollar.

(c) In calculating inflation or deflation, the commission shall use the
statistics published by the Colorado department of transportation as the
construction cost index.

(d) (I) (A) The local access route cash fund is created in the state treasury.
The fund consists of money credited to the fund in accordance with this subsection
(1) and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to
the fund.

(B) The state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the
deposit and investment of money in the fund to the fund.

(C) Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the division to
implement this section.

(II) The division shall perform, on an annual basis, an analysis to determine
the net incremental cost of the collection and administration of the fee. The division
may retain a portion of the fee to cover the cost of collecting and administering the
fee, but may retain only the amount of the fee that is determined to be necessary by
the cost analysis. The division shall not retain more than three and one-third
percent of the fee. The division shall transmit the retained portion of the fee to the
state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the parks and outdoor recreation cash
fund created in section 33-10-111.

(2) (a) Beginning January 1, 2025, the division shall collect any fee
established under subsection (1) of this section from each person using a daily
vehicle pass that visits a state park for which an additional fee has been established
and shall transfer the fee, minus the amount retained under subsection (1)(d) of this
section, to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fee to the fund. The division
shall transfer the remainder of the fee from the fund to the local government that
requested the fee and is responsible for the local access route. If a state park has
multiple local access routes that are maintained by multiple local governments, all
of which requested the additional fee pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section,
the local governments shall determine by agreement how the fee revenue is to be
apportioned, and the division shall not distribute the fee revenue to the local
governments until the local governments have provided the division with the
agreement.

(b) A local government shall use any fee received under this subsection (2) to
support access to state parks. Supporting access may include maintaining and
constructing local roads, bicycle lanes, shuttle operations, and multimodal access
routes.

(3) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) Daily vehicle pass means any fee paid by a visitor to a state park
assessed on a daily basis and based on a motor vehicle entering the state park.

(b) Fee means the fee established under subsection (1) of this section.

(c) Fund means the local access route cash fund created in subsection
(1)(d)(I) of this section.

(d) Local access route means a right-of-way, including a bike or pedestrian
path, that is normally used to travel to or from a state park.

(e) Local government means a city, county, city and county, or special
district of this state.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2023: Entire section added, (SB 23-059), ch. 223, p. 1153, � 2, effective August 7.