Colorado § 24-32-3703 - Local housing needs assessments - procedure - exempt local governments.

§ 24-32-3703. Local housing needs assessments - procedure - exempt local governments.

(1) (a) No later than December 31, 2026, each local government shall conduct and publish a local housing needs assessment that conforms to the methodology for conducting local housing needs assessments developed by the director pursuant to section 24-32-3702 (1)(d) for the territory covered by the local government's master plan.

(b) A housing needs assessment conducted by or on behalf of a local government after January 1, 2022, qualifies as having satisfied the requirement of subsection (1)(a) of this section, if the local government submits the assessment to the department no later than December 31, 2024, and the department determines that the most recent version of the assessment conforms to the methodology for conducting a regional housing needs assessment or local housing needs assessment pursuant to section 24-32-3702. The department shall review a housing needs assessment and make such a determination within ninety days of a local government submitting the housing needs assessment to the department.

(2) Beginning on December 31, 2026, a local government shall complete a housing needs assessment no less often than every six years, except as provided in this section.

(3) Upon conducting a local government housing needs assessment pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, a local government's governing body shall consider the local housing needs assessment at a public meeting. Within sixty days of considering the local housing needs assessment at a public meeting, the local government shall submit the housing needs assessment along with any comments of the local government's governing body to the department. The department shall not accept a housing needs assessment from a local government that does not include the elements listed in section 24-32-3702 (1)(d)(I) through (VI) and demonstrate consideration of the baseline components listed in section 24-32-3702 (2). The department shall notify a local government if it does not accept an assessment. The department shall post the housing needs assessment on its website after accepting the assessment.

(4) A local government is exempt from the requirements of this section if:

(a) The local government participates in the creation of a regional housing needs assessment pursuant to section 24-32-3704 that is updated no less often than every six years, provided that, to be exempt from the requirement to conduct and publish a local housing needs assessment by December 31, 2026, the regional housing needs assessment must be completed by December 31, 2026; or

(b) The local government has a population of less than one thousand, or has experienced a negative population change of at least one percent in the most recent decennial census, unless the local government receives funding to conduct a local housing needs assessment from the department pursuant to section 24-32-3710.

(5) (a) Population and other data by which a local government is determined to be subject to the provisions of this section must be determined two years prior to the date that the local government is required to complete a housing needs assessment pursuant to this section.

(b) For the purposes of both this section and section 24-32-3705, a county's population includes only the population within a county's unincorporated territory.

Source: L. 2024: Entire part added, (SB 24-174), ch. 290, p. 1951, § 1, effective May 30.