This month's utility bills for 134 properties on Prospect Mountain carry a new line. It is listed separately from regular water usage charges and reads $150.00. It covers October water service. It is the first of what the Town of Estes Park expects to be 40 years of monthly payments on the loan that rebuilt the neighborhood's water system.
If you're buying or selling on Prospect Mountain, the key fact is who owes the charge. In its staff memo to the Town Board, the Town wrote that unless the share is paid off, "the repayment remains with the property regardless of ownership until the loan repayment is complete." So the house carries the debt, whoever happens to own it.
A Loan Payment That Belongs to the Address
The Estes Park Town Board unanimously approved Ordinance 15-26 on Sept. 22, 2026. It sets a preliminary surcharge of $150 a month for the properties in the former Prospect Mountain Water Company service area. The Estes Valley Voice reported it as $1,800 per parcel per year for the next 40 years, on top of regular water charges. At the preliminary rate, that adds up to $72,000 per property over the full term.
The Town's letter to property owners says the total monthly obligation is "shared equally among the 134 properties served by the system" and that it "is attached to the property and held by any/all owner(s) of the property throughout the course of the 40-year repayment term." The ordinance also makes owners responsible for the monthly charge whether or not they actually receive water service that month. For a second-home owner who winterizes in November and returns in May, the charge keeps billing through every month the cabin sits dry.
The area is unincorporated Larimer County, next to Estes Park. Construction updates from the project's engineering team named these work locations:
- Upper Venner/Prospect Mountain Drive
- Venner Ranch Road
- Prospect Mountain Court
- The Koral Heights roads: Prospect Mountain Road, Peak View Drive, Juniper Drive, Devon Drive, Curry Drive, Vista View Lane, Koral Court and Tall Pines Road
Why These 134 Properties Pay It
The Prospect Mountain Water Company was incorporated in 1969 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 22, 2015. According to the Town, the system was failing and could not reliably meet modern standards for water quality, pressure and fire flow. The Town began operating the system in 2016 and took over its assets in 2019 through an agreement with the bankruptcy trustee.
That agreement settled who would pay. It "established that all project costs would be repaid by the Benefitted PMWC properties, rather than by existing Town water customers."
The rebuild added a 180,000-gallon storage tank, a booster pump, more than 5 miles of ductile iron pipe and 43 fire hydrants. The Estes Valley Voice put the total at roughly $15.8 million. More than $10 million came from grants, and just under $5 million came from a federal loan at 2.375% over 40 years. The USDA Rural Development loan closed on Aug. 13, 2026, which is why repayment, and the surcharge, began this fall.
A Neighbor Who Never Sees the Charge
The surcharge applies to the properties listed in the ordinance's Exhibit 2. Section 2 of Ordinance 15-26 says connections to the project's infrastructure made after the ordinance takes effect are classified as "new customers" and "will not be subject to the charge." Town staff picked the ordinance's effective date as the cutoff because the formal project closeout has no date certain.
So two homes on the same road can share the same pipe, the same tank and the same hydrant coverage, and only one pays $150 a month for decades. If they're listed at the same price, the buyer of the surcharged home also takes on a utility charge of $1,800 a year that sits on the water bill, separate from the price. That gap matters most in a monthly-budget comparison, which is how lenders and many second-home buyers judge whether a purchase works.
Park Entrance Shows What a Payoff Looks Like
Estes Park has done this before. In 2020 the Town adopted Ordinance 09-20 for customers of the former Park Entrance Mutual Pipeline and Water Company. It added a $115.89 monthly surcharge "regardless of whether they actually receive water service for that month," in effect through 2060. The Trail-Gazette reported 18 former customers, a $658,000 loan at 2.25% over 40 years, and a charge that would stay with a property until its balance was paid.
The Park Entrance ordinance spells out the payoff math in a way the Prospect Mountain ordinance can't yet:
| Park Entrance | Prospect Mountain | |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinance | 09-20, adopted 2020 | 15-26, approved Sept. 22, 2026 |
| Properties | 18 former customers | 134 properties |
| Monthly surcharge | $115.89 | $150.00, preliminary |
| Loan terms | 2.25%, 40 years | 2.375%, 40 years |
| Payoff basis | $36,555.56 principal per property | Final share, set after project closeout |
| End point | Through 2060 | When the loan is repaid |
At Park Entrance, the Finance Director calculates the lump sum from that $36,555.56 principal, the 2.25% rate and a standard 40-year amortization. The ordinance adds that "no payment of a lesser amount shall be effective to decrease the surcharge." That principal is exactly $658,000 divided by 18. The same split for Prospect Mountain uses the $4,491,000 USDA loan listed in the Town's packet, spread across 134 properties, and comes to about $33,500. That's only a rough guide, since the Town will set the actual figure from final costs, and the monthly charge also funds required reserves and administration.
Why $150 Is Still Preliminary
The Town calls the $150 preliminary because some construction work is unfinished. In the Estes Valley Voice's account of the September meeting, Utilities Project Manager Jackie Wesley said, "The tank is still weeping," meaning it leaks. The Town has received a state notice of significant deficiency about the tank and is negotiating with the contractor over repairs. The same report says staff intend to adjust the charge if needed but could not guarantee it will go down. The draft minutes say a surety bond is in place and that resolving the leak is the contractor's responsibility.
That leaves buyers and sellers working with a moving number. Once the final cost is set, the Town says owners will get written notice of the option to pay in full, and "paying in full ends the charge for that property and settles the obligation; it does not transfer to a future owner." A seller who pays off the share before listing turns a 40-year line item into a clean bill. A seller who doesn't passes the remaining term to the buyer. Either way, the payoff status becomes part of the negotiation once the Town names a figure.
The Rest of the Bill Is Moving Too
The surcharge sits on top of the Town's regular water rates, and those may change as well. The Town's current schedule took effect in January 2020, and its last increase came in 2022. Today a residential base fee is $46.67 in the Urban class and $67.67 in the Rural class, covering the first 2,000 gallons. The Town scheduled public hearings on proposed increases for Oct. 27 and Nov. 10. Early rate-study estimates call for about 15% a year for three years. On a $90 monthly bill, the first year adds about $13.50. According to the Town, the water system is funded entirely by customer rates and fees, and it puts the needed investment at about $130 million over 20 years.
The Town's proposed 2027–2029 schedule lists both loan surcharges as monthly additions to the residential base fee and volume charge. That means a Prospect Mountain owner's bill moves with any town-wide increase, plus a flat $150 that doesn't. The Town's water rates page posts the schedule in effect.
What to Request Before an Offer or a Listing
These steps work from either side of the deal:
- A recent utility bill for the property. The surcharge appears as its own line item, so a single bill shows whether the property is in the benefitted group.
- Payoff status from the Town. Ask whether a final share has been set and whether any payoff has been made. A completed payoff ends the charge for that property.
- The current monthly amount. Until owners get written notice of a change, the Town lists the charge at $150.
- The service transfer. The Town's Utility Billing page asks new residential owners to call at least 24 hours ahead to move service out of the prior owner's name.
Does the surcharge apply to every home on Prospect Mountain?
No. It applies to the properties listed in Exhibit 2 of Ordinance 15-26. Connections made after the ordinance takes effect count as new customers and don't pay it.
Can a seller pay it off to close a sale?
The Town has said a lump-sum option will be offered once the final project cost is set, and that a completed payoff doesn't carry over to a future owner.
Does a vacant season pause the charge?
Under Ordinance 15-26, owners owe the charge whether or not water service is used that month, which is the same rule Park Entrance properties have followed since 2020.
This post is general information about a Town ordinance and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the details for your own property with the Town of Estes Park, your title company, your attorney or your lender.
If you own on Prospect Mountain or have your eye on a cabin off Venner Ranch Road, the surcharge should be part of your pricing math from the first conversation. Estes Park Living can help you factor the payoff status and the monthly carrying cost into a list price or an offer. Let's Connect.
