Colorado § 25-4-1607 - Fees - rules - legislative declaration.

§ 25-4-1607. Fees - rules - legislative declaration.

(1) Repealed.

(1.1) (a) For calendar years 2026, 2027, and 2028 and for each subsequent calendar year thereafter, each retail food establishment in this state must be assessed an annual license fee as follows:

(I) A restaurant or caterer shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

Seating Capacity

1/1/2026

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

0 to 100​

$ 481

$ 567

$ 682

101 to 200​

$ 538

$ 634

$ 763

Over 200​

$ 581

$ 687

$ 826

(II) A limited food service establishment shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

1/1/2026

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

$ 338

$ 394

$ 475

(III) A grocery store shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

Square Footage

1/1/2026

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

Less than 15,001

$ 244

$ 282

$ 340

Over 15,000​

$ 441

$ 519

$ 624

(IV) A grocery store with deli shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

Square Footage​

1/1/2026

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

Less than 15,001

$ 469

$ 552

$ 664

Over 15,000

$ 894

$ 1,062

$ 1,276

(V) A retail food establishment offering food at a temporary living quarter for workers associated with oil and gas operations shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

1/1/2026​

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

$ 1,063

$ 1,264

$ 1,519

(VI) A mobile food establishment shall be assessed the applicable annual fee on or after the dates listed in the following schedule:

Mobile Type

1/1/2026

1/1/2027

1/1/2028

Full Service

$ 481

$ 567

$ 682

Prepackaged Food

$ 338

$ 394

$ 475

(VII) The fee amounts listed for calendar year 2028 in this subsection (1.1)(a) apply to calendar year 2029 and to each subsequent calendar year thereafter until a new fee schedule is established.

(b) (I) A retail food establishment is subject to only one of the fees set forth in subsection (1.1)(a) of this section.

(II) A county or district public health agency shall establish the license fees for a retail food establishment at a special event.

(c) Repealed.

(d) (I) Retail food establishment license fees shall be imposed pursuant to this subsection (1.1); except that:

(A) The city and county of Denver may establish fees by ordinance; and

(B) A county or district board of health may establish fees that are lower than the fees listed in subsection (1.1)(a) of this section if the county or district board of health is in compliance with this part 16.

(II) Except as provided in subsection (1.1)(d)(I) of this section, the fees set forth in subsection (1.1)(a) of this section or by ordinance of the city and county of Denver must:

(A) Be the only annual license fees charged by the state or by a county, district, local, or regional inspection authority; and

(B) Cover all inspections required for a retail food establishment throughout an annual license period.

(1.5) Repealed.

(2) At the time a plan is submitted for review, an application fee of one hundred fifty-five dollars shall be paid to the department or a county or district board of health. The fee for plan review and preopening inspection of a new or remodeled retail food establishment must be the actual cost of such review and must not exceed nine hundred dollars. Such costs must be payable at the time the plan is approved and an inspection is completed to determine compliance.

(3) At the time an equipment review is submitted, an application fee of one hundred fifty-five dollars shall be paid to the department. The fee for equipment review by the department to determine compliance with applicable standards must be the actual cost of such review and must not exceed seven hundred seventy-five dollars. Such costs must be payable when the review is completed.

(4) The fee for an HACCP plan review must not exceed six hundred twenty dollars. Costs shall be paid at the time the plan is approved and an inspection is completed.

(5) The fee for services requested by a person seeking department or county or district board of health review of a potential retail food establishment site must be one hundred twenty dollars or the actual cost of such review, whichever is greater. One hundred twenty dollars of such fee shall be billed at the time the review is requested, and the remainder must be payable when services are completed.

(6) The fee for food protection services provided to special events shall not exceed the actual cost of such services and shall be paid by the organizer of such special event when services are completed.

(7) The fee for any requested service not specifically set forth in this section shall not exceed the actual cost of such service.

(8) The actual cost of a service shall be established by the department or a county or district board of health, whichever provided the service.

(9) (a) A certificate of license may be issued to and in the name and address of any:

(I) Public or nonpublic school for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade or any portion thereof;

(II) Penal institution;

(III) Nonprofit organization that provides food solely to people who are food insecure, including, but not limited to, a soup kitchen, food pantry, or home delivery service; and

(IV) Local government entity or nonprofit organization that donates, prepares, or sells food at a special event, including, but not limited to, a school sporting event, firefighters' picnic, or church supper, that takes place in the county in which the local government entity or nonprofit organization resides or is principally located.

(b) No institution or organization listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection (9) shall pay any fee imposed on a retail food establishment pursuant to this section.

(10) (a) County or district boards of health created in part 5 of article 1 of this title 25 shall collect fees under this section if the county or district boards of health are authorized by the department to enforce this part 16 and any rules promulgated pursuant to this part 16.

(b) Repealed.

(11) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2009, (SB 09-223), ch. 255, p. 1155, § 7, effective May 15, 2009.)

(12) Notwithstanding the amount specified for any fee in this section, the state board of health by rule or as otherwise provided by law may reduce the amount of one or more of the fees if necessary pursuant to section 24-75-402 (3), C.R.S., to reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all or any portion of one or more of the fees is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are sufficiently reduced, the state board of health by rule or as otherwise provided by law may increase the amount of one or more of the fees as provided in section 24-75-402 (4), C.R.S.

(13) Legislative declaration - disposition of fee revenue.

(a) The general assembly does not intend for the fees paid by retail food establishments as outlined in subsections (1) and (1.1) of this section to subsidize inspection or other costs associated with entities exempt from fees under subsection (9)(a) of this section.

(b) Counties may only spend the increased revenue from the increase of retail food establishment fees on retail food health-related activities.

(14) Repealed.

Source: L. 98: (12) added, p. 1334, § 46, effective June 1; entire part R&RE, p. 1250, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2003: (1)(a), (1)(b), and (1)(c) amended, p. 2050, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2009: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(c), (1)(e)(II), (2) to (5), (8), (10), and (11) amended and (1)(c.5) added, (SB 09-223), ch. 255, p. 1155, § 7, effective May 15. L. 2016: (1) and (9)(a) amended and (1.5), (13), and (14) added, (HB 16-1401), ch. 367, p. 1543, § 2, effective August 10; IP(1), IP(1.5)(a), (1.5)(a)(VI), IP(1.5)(b), and (1.5)(b)(VI) amended, (SB 16-189), ch. 210, p. 798, § 125, effective August 10. L. 2017: IP(1.5)(b) amended, (SB 17-294), ch. 264, p. 1408, § 86, effective May 25; IP(1), (1)(e)(I), (1.5)(d), and (13)(b) amended, (SB 17-244), ch. 344, p. 1815, § 1, effective August 9. L. 2020, 1st Ex. Sess.: (10) amended, (SB 20B-001), ch. 2, p. 15, § 6, effective December 7. L. 2025: IP(1), (1)(e)(I)(B), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (13) amended, (1)(f) and (1.1) added, and (1.5) and (14) repealed, (SB 25-285), ch. 296, p. 1511, § 2, effective August 6.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 25-4-1607 as it existed prior to 1998.

(2) Subsection (12) was enacted as subsection (3) in SB 98-194 and was renumbered in the 1998 Colorado Revised Statutes for ease of location in the section as repealed and reenacted by SB 98-189.

(3) Subsection (14), as enacted by HB 16-1401, provides that the fee increases in subsections (1) and (1.5), as amended in and enacted by HB 16-1401, do not take effect until certain conditions are met and that the executive director of the department of public health and environment shall notify the revisor of statutes in writing when those conditions have been satisfied. The revisor of statutes received the notice specified in subsection (14)(c) on January 29, 2019.

(4) Subsection (1.5)(b)(VI) provided for the repeal of subsection (1.5)(b)(VI), effective January 1, 2017. (See L. 2016, p. 1543.)

(5) Subsection (10)(b)(II) provided for the repeal of subsection (10)(b), effective December 31, 2022. (See L. 2020, 1st Ex. Sess., p. 15.)

(6) Subsections (1)(f) and (1.1)(c)(II) provided for the repeal of subsections (1) and (1.1)(c), respectively, effective January 1, 2026. (See L. 2025, p. 1511.)

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 20B-001, see section 1 of chapter 2, Session Laws of Colorado 2020, First Extraordinary Session.