Conservation Trust Fund

Below you will find information on the Conservation Trust Fund. Please familiarize yourself with the information on this page prior to completing the survey. Take survey now. All input received will be summarized and presented to City Council. Council will decide on how the community will use future Conservation Trust Funds.

What is the Conservation Trust Fund? It is the name of the fund where we put money given to Longmont from the Colorado Lottery program. The Colorado Lottery was started in 1983. In 1992 voters told the state where to spend the money collected from the lottery and created the Conservation Trust Fund.

Our state’s constitution was amended in 1992 which restricted the use of the Conservation Trust Fund to: State and Local parks; Recreation facilities; Open space; Environmental education; and to wildlife habitats.
The Lottery funds are distributed to:

Great Outdoors Colorado (also known as GOCO) which gets 50% of this money. GOCO has several grant programs that communities compete for
40% of the money goes to local governments (like Longmont) and we’re given funding based on how many people live in our community. Revenues received by Longmont from the Colorado Lottery Program vary and have ranged from $300,000 to $900,000 per year. And finally
10% of the funds go to Colorado State Parks. As a community we can choose where to spend this funding as long as it is within the allowable uses dictated by the State Constitution.

Longmont’s use of the Conservation Trust Fund has been dedicated to the St Vrain Greenway and its adjacent parks like Rogers Grove and Izaak Walton pond which also serve as trailheads to the trail system. We anticipate that the planned St Vrain Greenway projects will be complete within the next 5 years. The future allocation of these funds is at the heart of the survey.

How can Colorado Trust Funds be used?

The CTF can be used for 4 main categories of use:

Purchasing Land or Water;
Development of those lands;
Maintenance of those improvements; or
Other Capital Improvements.

More Details about the 4 Main Categories:

#1 -Purchase of Land or Water

Those purchases must be for park and recreation uses including open space; floodplains; agricultural land; scenic areas or for scientific, historic, aesthetic, recreational or similar purpose. These uses are defined in the state requirements and are very specific. Longmont can’t choose our own definitions. Floodplains or agriculture might not immediately come to mind as a parks or recreation use – but that is how this is defined by the State Legislature.

Land purchased must be for the following uses: community and recreation centers; easements (these are legal agreements to use someone else’s land); libraries and museums; fairgrounds and campgrounds; golf courses; Parks and open space areas; skate parks and rinks; shooting ranges; swimming pools; and for trails and pathways.

#2 - Development

The constitution allows for new development of structures and buildings; shelters and pavilions; sports courts and fields; restrooms; pathways and trails; parking; playgrounds; and lakes. This could also mean new development of entire park sites that are planned but unfunded.

#3 – Maintenance

Maintenance can’t be used for any and every area – it is restricted to those areas that were previously improved using Conservation Trust Funds. In those areas it can pay for salaries of maintenance staff, landscaping, and swimming pool maintenance as examples. So if we were to select this use for the fund today, we could spend it on maintenance of the St Vrain Greenway – but not for maintenance of the Longmont Recreation center.

#4- Capital Improvements on publicly owned parks and recreation sites

Some of our parks and recreation facilities areas are well over 50 years old. As facilities age they require repair, updating to maintain current with recreation trends, or expansion to serve larger populations. So as long as the City owns the land, we can do improvements, additions or upgrades to those areas (and remember this definition includes libraries & museums). These things might include new playground equipment or resurfacing to an older park; new site amenities (soccer goals, picnic tables or benches) in parks or along a trail; ADA compliance modifications (or those things needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act); buying new pool equipment; recreation center improvements; maintenance and office equipment (as long as it serves parks and recreation purposes); lighting or security equipment or for master planning future improvement projects. You see that even though the use is restricted – it still allows quite a few uses.

The Structure of Longmont’s Park System

Longmont has three park categories:

Neighborhood Parks - smaller and generally serve their immediate neighborhood. Thompson Park is an example of one of these park types.
Community Parks - larger and are primarily for programed sports use. Garden Acres, Clark Centennial, and Dry Creek Community Park (right now under construction) are 3 examples of this park type.
District Parks - primarily for passive use and are developed around unique land features. Golden Ponds and the lower part of Sandstone Ranch with the historic house and wildlife area are examples of District parks. District parks also include some – but not all of our open space lands. Agricultural open space areas are not considered District parks, but the St Vrain Greenway trail and places like Jim Hamm pond or Golden ponds are defined as District parks.

City Funding Sources are limited to specific uses in regards to parks

The Park Improvement Fund can ONLY be used for new neighborhood and community parks – not for upgrades to existing parks, or for improvements to District parks.
The Public Improvement Fund can be used for existing parks – but there is lots of competition for this fund. This fund is also used for any number of city projects such as fire stations, municipal buildings and parking areas.
Open Space Fund can be used for to buy or maintain open space, agricultural lands, and to develop or maintain trails or district parks.

Now that you have had a chance to review the information above, we invite you to complete the following survey to provide your input on how we might best use CTF funds once the St Vrain Greenway project is complete.

If you have any questions please contact one of the following staff:

Jeff Friesner – by email at jeff.friesner@ci.longmont.co.us or by at phone at 303-651-8393
Paula Fitzgerald – by email at paula.fitzgerald@ci.longmont.co.us – or by phone at 303-651-8448