The City of Fort Collins is a full-service municipal organization dedicated to providing exceptional service for an exceptional community of 173,000 residents, 8,000 businesses and numerous community partners.

Located in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University (CSU), outstanding public school and healthcare systems, several large high-tech employers and leading businesses in the craft brewing industry. Fort Collins offers exciting recreational opportunities, unique cultural offerings and amenities, and is a regional center for employment and commerce. Both the City organization and community at large are frequently recognized for our quality of services and amenities, sustainable management practices, and a forward-thinking, innovative culture.

One of the City of Fort Collins’ primary responsibilities is to steward taxpayer dollars to provide the programs and services the community expects and deserves from its local government. The Popular Annual Financial Report is part of this commitment to financial transparency.

This report provides a condensed and simplified overview of the City's financial position, based on information from the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. This report is unaudited and is presented on a non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) basis, as it does not provide all of the necessary financial statements and note disclosures required by GAAP. As a result, the Balance Sheet and Income Statement presented here are not in strict conformity with GAAP. The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report is a more detailed and complete financial presentation, which is prepared in conformity with GAAP and is audited by the City’s independent auditors, Plante Moran, PLLC. This report summarizes more than 200 pages of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report’s financial and statistical data. The financial statements condense information of all funds included in the “Total Primary Government.”

This report also includes information on the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority, a legally separate, blended component unit of the City, which is therefore included in the City’s governmental activity figures. It excludes discrete component units and fiduciary fund information. The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the City Manager’s Budget are also available on the City’s website.

• Assets: what the City of Fort Collins owns.
• Business-type activities: private sector-type operations, such as Utilities and Golf, where fees for services typically cover all or most of the cost of operations, including depreciation.
• Capital assets: items such as City or Utility land, construction in progress, equipment, infrastructure and buildings, and improvements net of depreciation.
• Component Unit: legally separate organizations for which the City is financially accountable. The Urban Renewal Authority, Downtown Development Authority, General Improvement Districts #1 & #15, and the Tourism Improvement District are the City’s component units.
• Current and other assets: items such as pooled cash and investments, cash and investments with fiscal agents, receivables, internal balances, inventories, deposits with others, prepaid items and deferred charges.
• Deferred inflows: an acquisition of a net asset that is applicable to a future reporting period.
• Deferred outflows: a consumption of a net asset that is applicable to a future reporting period.
• Fiduciary fund: accounts for assets held on behalf of outside parties, including other governments.
• Governmental activities: City basic services, including police, planning, economic development, and culture and recreation. Sales, use, and property taxes finance the majority of these services.
• Invested in capital assets, net of related debt: amounts invested in capital assets less accumulated depreciation and any outstanding debt used to acquire these assets.
• Liabilities: what the City of Fort Collins owes.
• Long-term liabilities: items such as bonds, loans, compensated absences, and other City of Fort Collins obligations.
• Net book value: represents the acquisition cost less accumulated depreciation for an asset.
• Net position: the difference between City of Fort Collins assets and liabilities. It is the net worth of the City.
• Other liabilities: items such as payables, payroll, accrued interest and unearned revenue.
• PILOT: payment in lieu of taxes, made to compensate the primary government for some or all of the tax revenue lost due to the tax-exempt status of the City’s utilities.
• Primary government: all of the governmental and business-type activities belonging to the City of Fort Collins excluding the discretely presented component units and fiduciary funds.
• Restricted: funds that are not available for general use because they have been set aside for a specific purpose or project.
• Unrestricted: one-time funds available to use for operations or capital.

SALES & USE TAX
Many City services are funded through service charges, such as our Utility or Recreation services. However, the City assesses a 3.85% tax on sales, purchases and certain services in order to fund other services that are not charged based on volume or usage.

Base Rate - 2.85%
Funds government services like police, transportation and administration.

General Fund Renewable - 0.25%
Expires Dec. 31, 2030
This tax was passed by Fort Collins voters in April 2020 to continue funding services and programs residents value. This is also used in conjunction with the Base Rate to fund general government services.

Streets and Transportation - 0.25%
Expires Dec. 31, 2025
Street maintenance taxes were first approved in 1984 and were renewed in 1989, 1998, 2006 and 2016. The Street Maintenance Program focuses on extending the lifespan of roadways and minimizing the cost of maintaining a viable road surface. Well maintained roads require less upkeep than repairing roads in poor condition, and this tax allows the City to maintain the current level of service.

Natural Areas - 0.25%
Expires Dec. 31, 2030
Open Space Yes!, originally passed in 1992 and renewed in 1998 and 2006, is a key component in the conservation and management of natural areas and trails. Expenditures from this tax include land acquisition, resource and land management, public improvements and educational programming.

Community Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) - 0.25%
Expires Dec. 31, 2025
CCIP taxes were initiated in 1985 and were renewed in 1990, 1998, 2006 and 2016. Project highlights using this funding for 2016-2025 include Club Tico renovations, Downtown Poudre River Whitewater Park, a Visitors Center at the Gardens on Spring Creek, Willow and Linden Street improvements, Lincoln Avenue bridge, and a Southeast Community Center.

Every two years, the City Manager submits a budget for City Council’s adoption. The proposed budget cannot include expenditures that exceed estimated reserve balances and anticipated revenue. The budget represents six months of input from residents, City staff and City management, and serves as the two-year blueprint for advancing results in the seven key outcome areas.

Fort Collins uses Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) for its budget. The process focuses on results and priorities,
not on cost. The process shifts from paying for costs to buying results. Service providers, or “sellers," make offers to results teams aligned behind one of the seven outcomes. Teams evaluate effectively purchasing these offers from the seller based on their priority. These purchase decisions put residents and their priorities first. For more information, please visit fcgov.com/bfo.

In 2023, governmental expenditures totaled $334.4 million, an increase of $42.5 million, or 14.6%, when compared to 2022. General Government, Public Safety and Transportation expenses increased over 2022 by $17.2 million, $11.4 million and $10.5 million, respectively. These increases were largely due to expenses incurred by services provided to the City, or in use from grant and contribution revenues, alongside other City improvements. Additionally, Culture, Parks, Recreation and Natural Areas expenses increased by $2.4 million, also due to grant and contribution-related activity, as well as continuing economic growth seen in previous years. Meanwhile, Planning and Development and Interest on Long-Term Debt only increased by $0.8 million and $0.3 million, respectively, over the prior year.

Business-type expenditures totaled $253.0 million in 2023, an increase of $7.7 million, or 3.1%, when compared to 2022. Increases seen over 2022 and previous years largely occurred in Light & Power expenses, growing by $7.6 million over the prior year, as expenses continue to rise for the Connexion internet service and other developments. While Storm Drainage, Wastewater and Golf-related expenditures only increased over 2022 by $1.6 million, $0.9 million, and $0.5 million, respectively, with increases in Business-type services driven mostly by inflationary pressures in energy cost, labor, equipment and supplies. Meanwhile, Water was the only Business-type service to decrease expenses over 2022, declining $2.9 million as consumption declined across all City customer segments.

Cash & Investment Management
Investment policies are governed by City Council-adopted policy. The principal objective of the City's cash and investment strategy is preservation of investment principal. Thus, the policy allows for only fixed-income investments, such as state or local government debt, U.S. agency obligations, or highly rated U.S. corporate debt. Equity investments, such as common stock or mutual funds, are disallowed under the City’s policy.

At Dec. 31, 2023, the fair market value of the City’s cash and investments was $620.1 million. The portfolio's overall market yield for 2023 was -4.12% and the realized and unrealized interest losses were $25.5 million.

Bonded Debt Obligations
The City’s credit rating was Aaa by Moody’s Investors Service at Dec. 31, 2023. This highly favorable investment rating, maintained by less than 5% of governments, allows the City to pay less interest on its debt issuances. 

At Dec. 31, 2023, the City held total bonded debt of $306.3 million. Of this amount, $50.5 million was related to government activities and $255.8 million was related to business-type activities. The debt service due within one year is $32.5 million.

The book value, historical cost less depreciation, of the City’s capital assets totaled $1.9 billion at Dec. 31, 2023. This investment in capital assets includes buildings and improvements, infrastructure and other improvements, including streets, bridges, the full utility delivery system, land and right-of-way, various equipment and construction in progress. Total investment in capital assets increased $51.1 million compared to 2022.

While the City reports its assets at net book value based on acquisition cost and accumulated depreciation, estimated fair market value is 2-3 times higher due to market appreciation of water rights, land and building values. This estimate is based on appraisal value, replacement cost and/or insured values.