SB 26-049 expands Colorado’s natural disaster mitigation framework to include homeowners and homeowners’ associations as eligible recipients of assistance from the natural disaster mitigation enterprise fund. It also broadens the kinds of mitigation projects that can be supported to expressly include impact-resistant roofing materials and other property-specific mitigation actions, defined by reference to recognized certification programs such as UL 2218 Class 4 roofing and the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety’s Wildfire Prepared Home or similar verified programs.
The bill creates a new income tax subtraction for contributions to a catastrophe savings account, effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027 and before January 1, 2037, capped at $50,000 per year. These accounts are intended to help homeowners pay insurance deductibles, uninsured losses, and qualified catastrophe-related expenses tied to hail, wildfire, or catastrophic wind events, including mitigation work and roof replacement. The bill also exempts interest earned in these accounts from state income tax and protects the accounts from attachment, levy, garnishment, or other legal process.
Impact
The bill would amend Colorado statutes governing the natural disaster mitigation enterprise fund and the state income tax code. In the enterprise statute, it changes the definition of eligible entities, authorizes grants directly to individual homeowners and HOAs, and expands grant purposes to include roofing upgrades and property-specific mitigation measures. In the tax code, it creates a new subtraction for CSA contributions, defines the accounts and qualifying expenses, and exempts CSA interest from taxation, thereby creating a new tax expenditure with a performance statement and a scheduled repeal in 2042.
Sentiment
The available legislative history shows limited recorded debate or voting detail, but the bill advanced through committee with an amendment failing in the Senate Appropriations Committee and the bill being laid over unamended. The overall framing of the bill is supportive of homeowner resilience and disaster preparedness, suggesting generally favorable policy intent around reducing losses from hail, wildfire, and wind events. The lack of recorded votes or transcripts makes it difficult to identify broader bipartisan or partisan sentiment beyond the committee action.
Contention
The main points of contention appear to center on the scope and fiscal implications of the bill. Expanding grant eligibility from governments to individual homeowners and HOAs, and creating a new income tax deduction and tax-exempt savings vehicle, could raise concerns about state revenue loss, administrative complexity, and whether public funds should directly subsidize private property improvements. The failed amendment in Appropriations suggests at least some disagreement over the bill’s structure or cost, though the specific objection is not documented in the provided materials.