The act requires a metropolitan district that is a party to a lease or rental agreement that was effective as of January 1, 2025, or later and was filed with the county assessor's office in support of a claim for a property tax exemption based on the use of the property for purposes of the metropolitan district to file with the county assessor's office a statement (statement) describing: The metropolitan district's use of the leased property; The metropolitan district's authority to use the leased property for the metropolitan district's purposes; Any use of the leased property by a private person for private purposes; and Any disclosure filed by a member of the board of directors of the metropolitan district in accordance with certain laws that govern disclosures of conflicts of interest. If the statement includes a disclosure that relates to the leased property and is filed by a member of the board of directors of the metropolitan district in accordance with certain laws that govern disclosures of conflicts of interest, the county assessor shall, within 14 days of receipt of the statement, submit the statement to the metropolitan district's governing body. Within 63 days of receipt of the statement, the governing body shall issue a written decision including findings of fact and a conclusion as to whether the leased property is used for a public purpose. If the governing body concludes that the leased property is not used for a public purpose, the leased property is not exempt from taxation, and the county assessor shall implement the governing body's decision. The decision of the governing body is not subject to appeal and does not give rise to any private right of action. The act clarifies that a leasehold interest in real or personal property that is owned by a private person and that has been leased to the state or a political subdivision of the state, the use and possession of which has been leased back to a private person for private purposes, is taxable to the owner. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to transfer the following amounts from the license plate cash fund (fund) on June 30, 2025: 40% of the unexpended and unencumbered balance of the fund to the general fund; and 40% of the unexpended and unencumbered balance of the fund to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act defines the board of trustees of the public employees' retirement association (board) as a local public body for purposes of the open meetings law. Section 2 limits the terms of both elected and appointed members of the board to not more than 2 consecutive 4-year terms; except that the state treasurer is not subject to the 2-term limit. A former trustee who has served 2 consecutive terms may be reelected or reappointed to the board after not serving on the board for a period of at least one term. Section 2 also clarifies how such term limits apply in the case of a vacancy appointment. Section 3 requires the board, on and after January 1, 2025, to conduct its meetings in accordance with the open meetings law as a local public body and requires the board to post and regularly maintain and update the public employees' retirement association's (association) website with information including: The notice with specific agenda information, if available, for the board's next public meeting; The policy for and process by which a member of the public may participate in any public meeting of the board; A link or other means of public access to the records of past public meetings of the board; and The official email address of the board. Section 3 also requires that, on or before January 1, 2026, and on or before January 1 of each calendar year thereafter, the board post certain financial information of the association on the association's website. Section 4 clarifies that, while the board may delegate any of its responsibilities, duties, and powers to the executive director of the association or other designated agents, the board retains authority and responsibility for the management of the association and all its statutory duties and powers through a specified existing administrative process. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the regional planning roundtable commission (commission) within the department of local affairs (department). The commission is a 21-member appointed board with members who serve 3-year terms; except that specified members serve initial terms of 2 years. After an initial meeting to elect a chair and establish its procedures and operation framework, the commission will only meet when a local government requests assistance in addressing a regional opportunity or challenge. In so meeting, the commission shall: Define a region for purposes of establishing a regional roundtable to assist in addressing the regional opportunity or challenge; Considering local expertise, suggest who should serve on the regional roundtable established in connection with addressing the regional opportunity or challenge; and Identify state resources available to assist in addressing the regional opportunity or challenge. The commission may also assist in establishing an integrated planning framework that considers, at a minimum, specified topics. The commission must annually report to specified committees of the general assembly regarding any assistance that it has provided to local governments. The act allows the department to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations to cover the costs of implementing the act. Only after the department has received sufficient gifts, grants, or donations to implement the act is the commission created and able to meet. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado law sets fees for the titling and registration of vehicles and authorizes county clerks, as authorized agents of the department of revenue (department), to retain a portion of these fees to cover their costs. The department must increase these fees to account for inflation, but the department must not increase a fee by more than 5% per year. Colorado law authorizes a county clerk to set fees for shipping and handling of license plates. The act authorizes the county clerk to set fees for the shipping and handling of motor vehicle documents. The county clerk is authorized to set and publish the fee by October 15 for registration periods beginning January 1 of the following year. The act allows an owner to select a vehicle registration period that is less than one year for any reason. The request for a shortened registration period may be made only one time in the 12 months after the transaction date. Colorado law requires a salvage vehicle's title to have a brand that says "rebuilt from salvage". The act requires this brand to include a disclosure statement, which must: Include the reason the vehicle is salvage, as listed in statute; Contain a statement from the owner stating the nature of the damage that resulted in the determination that the vehicle is a salvage vehicle; and Contain the signature of the seller and buyer to sell the salvage vehicle. Colorado law requires the seller of a salvage vehicle to provide a disclosure statement of the fact and have it signed, and, if the buyer does not know about the vehicle being rebuilt from salvage, the buyer is entitled to a refund. The act requires this disclosure statement and the buyer to be provided the refund only if the title of a salvage vehicle does not have the brand on the title or the vehicle is subject to multiple assignments. Colorado law provides the option to have a rebuilder's certificate of title when a motor vehicle is a collector's item, the applicant is unable to provide appropriate evidence of ownership, and the applicant posts a bond. The act authorizes the department to issue a rebuilder's certificate of title to people who can prove ownership and changes the process to require only one bond. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The office of legislative workplace relations (OLWR) was established in 2019 as an entity within the office of legislative legal services to provide services to the general assembly, its members and employees, and the legislative services agencies. Specifically, the OLWR is directed to provide services related to employee relations, training, compliance, workplace culture, and workplace harassment, including investigations of complaints under the general assembly's policies on workplace expectations and workplace harassment. The act rebrands the OLWR as the legislative human resources division and directs the division to provide human resource services to the legislative branch, which includes the existing services required by law and additional services, such as benefits administration, compensation and classification, hiring and recruitment, and new employee onboarding, within available resources. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a civil cause of action for a peace officer if the peace officer reports or discloses conduct that is in violation of, or the peace officer reasonably believes is in violation of, any law or policy and the report or disclosure is a contributing factor in the employer of the peace officer's decision to take adverse employment action against the peace officer. A peace officer may seek the following damages: Reinstatement; Back pay with interest; Any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate; Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses; and Reasonable attorney fees and costs. The act creates an affirmative defense to the action if the peace officer's employer would have taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the peace officer based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis. The action is not subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act". The statute of limitations to bring the action is 2 years. The act does not apply to an employee who provides false information or who does not follow internal reporting and administrative procedures related to whistleblower conduct. All law enforcement agencies shall provide a training to employees or a workplace posting, or both, regarding the requirements of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the owner of a trailer to register the trailer for as long as the owner owns the trailer. The trailer must be class B or class D personal property. To register the trailer, the owner must pay: 2 years of annual specific ownership tax; and $55.82 to cover fees. Upon the transfer of ownership of the trailer, the owner is required to notify the department of revenue of the transfer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For state fiscal year 2025-26 only, the act directs the state treasurer to transfer all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the following funds and accounts to the general fund: The workers' compensation cash fund; The decommissioning fund; The AIR account in the highway users tax fund; The supplier database cash fund; The emergency medical services account; The plant health, pest control, and environmental protection fund; The Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account; The nursing home penalty cash fund; The advanced industries acceleration cash fund; The indirect costs excess recovery fund; The limited gaming fund; The energy fund; The small business recovery and resiliency fund; The energy outreach Colorado low-income energy assistance fund; The Colorado economic development fund; The Colorado firefighting air corps fund; The Colorado agricultural future loan program cash fund; The subsequent injury fund; The major medical insurance fund; The species conservation trust fund; The water supply reserve fund; The local government severance tax fund; The wildfire mitigation capacity development fund; The natural resource damage recovery fund; and The supplemental state contribution fund. For state fiscal year 2025-26 and each state fiscal year thereafter, the act directs the state treasurer to transfer all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the following funds and accounts to the general fund: The correctional treatment cash fund; The Colorado heritage communities fund; The multidisciplinary crime prevention and crisis intervention grant fund; The sustainable rebuilding program fund; The industrial and manufacturing operations clean air grant program cash fund; The geothermal energy grant fund; The clean air building investments fund; The community access to electric bicycles cash fund; The Colorado office of film, television, and media operational account cash fund; The Colorado startup loan program fund; The innovative housing incentive program fund; The state emergency reserve cash fund; The just transition cash fund; The legislative department cash fund; The state agency sustainability revolving fund; The law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant fund; The jail standard advisory committee cash fund; The innovative energy fund; The cannabis resource optimization cash fund; The streamlined solar permitting and inspection cash fund; The procurement technical assistance cash fund; The community revitalization fund; The transit-oriented communities infrastructure fund; and The accessory dwelling unit fee reduction and encouragement grant program fund. On June 30, 2025, the act transfers specified amounts, which are the estimated amounts of interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in each of the foregoing funds and accounts, as well as the housing development grant fund, the capital construction fund, and the information technology capital account in the capital construction fund, in the 2024-25 state fiscal year, from each of those funds and accounts to the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act exempts the following from the "Consumer Repair Bill of Rights Act": Devices, components, or systems designed to perform or facilitate quantum information processing; and Quantum sensing devices that exploit quantum phenomena in certain instances.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies current law regarding the process by which a policyholder may request a certified copy of their insurance policy (policy) from a homeowners insurance carrier (carrier) and the carrier's duty to comply. The act clarifies that such a request must be in written form and received by the carrier's registered agent (agent) and that the carrier's window of time to make the policy available begins when the agent receives the request. The act also imposes a penalty against a carrier that fails to comply with a policyholder's request for a certified copy of their policy in the amount of $50 per day and authorizes the award of attorney fees and costs for a policyholder's enforcement of the requirement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends and makes additions to existing law concerning security deposits that tenants submit to landlords and the conditions under which a landlord may retain all or part of a security deposit. For the purposes of security deposits, the act expands the definition of "normal wear and tear". Under current law, a landlord may not retain a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear and, if actual cause exists for retaining any portion of a security deposit, the landlord must provide the tenant: A written statement listing the exact reasons for the retention (written statement); and The difference between any sum deposited and the amount retained. The act states that a landlord may not retain a security deposit to cover any damage or defective condition that preexisted the tenancy and, if the landlord delivers the written statement within fourteen days after a written request by the tenant, the landlord must also deliver any relevant documentation in the landlord's possession or control. Upon a landlord's or tenant's request, if reasonable and practicable, the act requires a landlord and tenant to conduct a walk-through inspection, either in person or via a telecommunication-assisted interactive walk-through, of the dwelling unit to identify in writing any damage or defective conditions that are beyond normal wear and tear and that did not preexist the tenancy. The landlord must provide a walk-through inspection at a time that is mutually convenient to the parties, before the termination of the lease or the surrender of the premises, and after the tenant has had the opportunity to remove furniture. A landlord wrongfully withholds a security deposit or any portion of it if the landlord: Fails to timely provide the written statement and any required documentation; Provides a written statement that fails to list the exact reasons for retaining any portion of the security deposit; Fails to timely return the difference between any sum deposited and the amount retained; or Retains a security deposit or any portion of it in bad faith. A landlord retains a security deposit or any portion of it in bad faith if the amount retained: Unreasonably exceeds the amount of actual damages; Is retained without actual cause; Is an amount the landlord knew or should have known exceeded the actual damages; or Is retained solely or in part for an unlawful, retaliatory, or discriminatory purpose. A landlord is presumed to have retained an unreasonable amount of a security deposit if the amount retained is 125% or greater than the amount of the actual damages. In any court action brought by a tenant under the act, the landlord bears the burden of proving the amount of actual damages the landlord incurred. Under current law, upon cessation of a landlord's interest in a dwelling unit, the person in possession of a tenant's security deposit must either transfer the security deposit to the landlord's successor in interest or return the security deposit to the tenant within a reasonable time. The act states that this must be done within 60 days after cessation of the landlord's interest in the dwelling unit. If a landlord's payment refunding a tenant's security deposit or any portion of it is returned to the landlord, the landlord must hold the payment for at least one year after receiving it and must disburse the payment to the tenant within 15 calendar days upon the tenant's request. A landlord does not have actual cause to retain any amount from a security deposit for the replacement of carpet or painting unless there is substantial and irreparable damage to the carpet, or substantial damage to the paint, that exceeds normal wear and tear and did not preexist the tenancy. If a landlord has actual cause, the landlord may retain only the minimum amount necessary to replace the carpet or to repaint in the area that is damaged. A landlord may not deem carpet substantially and irreparably damaged if it has not been replaced with new carpet within the 10 years preceding the termination of the lease or surrender of the premises. The act takes effect January 1, 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
