Colorado Springs proposes phased increases to business-license fees

Colorado Springs is proposing a three-step increase in many general business-license fees, raising common annual charges from $110 to $190 by 2029. The City Council agenda lists the proposal for introduction on Oct. 12.

Under the City Clerk’s proposed fee schedule, many common annual license fees would rise from $110 to $135 on Jan. 1, 2027, then to $160 in 2028 and $190 in 2029. Late-renewal fees generally would increase from $55 to $68, $80 and $95. The schedule covers businesses including contractors, mobile food vendors, pawnbrokers, private security services, tree services and massage businesses. It describes the phase-in as moving from 53% cost recovery now to a 90% target by 2029.

Some fees would change differently. The schedule proposes initial and annual renewal fees of $5,000 each for an Escort Bureau, up from existing fees of $750 and $500, respectively. Initial fees for individual escorts and escort-bureau runners would fall from $750 to $500, while their annual renewal fees would rise from $110 to $250.

A draft resolution would set Jan. 1, 2027, as the effective date. It would also adjust fees in 2030 for cumulative consumer-price changes from 2027 through 2030, then annually beginning in 2031, subject to limits tied to the cost of licensing services. Escort-services licenses are exempt from those adjustments.

The schedule excludes marijuana and liquor business licenses, and some charges would stay the same. Duplicate-license fees generally would remain $5, while mobile food vendors’ additional-unit fee would remain $25.