In Wellington, Where a Lot Stood on April 1, 2026 Now Shapes What a New Home Costs

Two new homes in Wellington can share a floor plan, a builder and a price range and still carry different water and sewer costs. Those costs were paid before anyone moved in. Updated Town fees took effect on April 1, 2026, and since then new homes have fallen into one of two fee levels. Lots that had reached certain approval or permit milestones by that date keep the earlier fees. Every other lot pays the new ones. A second factor sits on top of that. A home whose yard runs on non-Town irrigation water needs roughly $36,000 less in water fees and raw water than one that waters its lawn from the tap.

These fees are paid at the building stage, and the Town's own ordinance says these fees "are costs incorporated into development project financing." If you're comparing new construction in Wellington with a resale or with a build in a neighboring town, it helps to know which tier a lot falls in.

Where the Line Falls

The Board of Trustees raised water and wastewater capital investment fees through Ordinance 02-2026, effective April 1, 2026. The increase followed the 2025 Municipal Utilities Rate and Fee Study. Town staff later wrote that the new fees "were set to recover the full cost of providing water and wastewater system capacity."

After that, the Board heard public comment from Wellington's development community. At its April 14, 2026 meeting it took up Ordinance 04-2026, which lets "Pipeline Developments" keep paying the earlier fees set by Ordinance 12-2024 through March 31, 2030. A property counts as a Pipeline Development if it reached any one of these milestones before April 1, 2026:

• Final plat approval and recordation
• An executed development agreement or memorandum of agreement for public improvements
• A complete building permit application, as determined by the Town

The Town checks eligibility lot by lot when a builder applies for a building permit. Any lot whose complete permit application is accepted before March 31, 2030 keeps the older fee. After that date, every lot pays whatever fee is in effect. Staff weighed a three-year lock, a three-year lock with step-ups, a five-year lock and a four-year lock, and recommended the four-year lock. That gives a subdivision that qualifies about three and a half more years to pull permits at the lower fee.

What the Current Tier Adds Up To

The Town fee schedule effective October 1, 2026 lists the post-April fees for a single-family home with a 3/4-inch tap. It also lists a raw-water requirement. A builder can meet that requirement with cash-in-lieu at $109,975 per acre-foot, a price set by Ordinance 07-2026. Here is how the two irrigation setups compare when the raw water is paid in cash:

On a single-family home, that difference is about $36,000. It comes from roughly $9,000 in water fees plus a quarter acre-foot of raw water. For scale, the median single-family sale price in Wellington was $500,000 in August 2026 and $471,750 year to date through August, according to the Colorado Association of REALTORS® local market update. At the year-to-date median, the potable-irrigation setup adds up to about 18% of the price of a typical home. The non-Town setup adds about 10%.

The tier jump is easier to see in the Town's August 2024 utility presentation. It listed 2024 single-family fees of $10,959 for water and $10,229 for wastewater, or $21,188 combined. The current combined fee for a potable-irrigation home is $29,675, about 40% higher. Ordinance 12-2024 replaced those 2024 figures on January 1, 2025, and the 2025 level is the one Pipeline lots still pay.

The raw-water price has dropped over the same period. The 2024 presentation showed raw-water cash-in-lieu at $124,100 per acre-foot as of 2023, so today's $109,975 rate is lower. The capital fees rose while the raw-water price fell. That means the irrigation source matters more than the fee tier for a lot of new homes.

The Irrigation Source Shows Up Again on the Summer Bill

The cost of choosing an irrigation source doesn't end at the permit. Everything after closing runs on monthly rates.

This past summer, Denver7 reported that one Wellington gardener's bill rose from $103 in May to $160 in July. Deputy Public Works Director Meagan Smith told the station the increase came from usage. "In 2026, we did not increase our water rates at all," she said. The same Denver7 report said the Board of Trustees kept the existing rate structure after an advisory group proposed a modified one. Smith said that alternative "would have raised the water bill for by far the bulk of all customers in town."

If a home's yard is watered with Town potable water, the summer bill rises with the lawn. A home on non-Town irrigation water keeps its lawn off the Town meter. So the same factor that cuts a builder's water fees and raw-water requirement also changes how much the owner's summer bill can swing.

Why the Town Kept the Old Fees Alive

The Town's own forecasts show that its utility finances depend on those pipeline permits going forward.

The Town's water treatment plant expansion reached final completion in October 2024. Its expanded water reclamation facility was running by January 2025, and remaining work on the older plant was estimated to wrap up in June 2025. The water treatment plant went from 2 to 4.2 million gallons per day, and the water reclamation facility went from 0.9 to 1.8 million gallons per day. Final costs were $39,055,590 and $53,109,734, paid with State Revolving Fund loans and Town water-enterprise and reserve funds. Water has also gotten more expensive to source. The 2024 presentation showed the Town's North Poudre Irrigation Company lease cost rising from $520 per acre-foot in 2013 to $3,800 per acre-foot in 2023, an increase of 640%.

Under Colorado's TABOR rules, the Town's water and wastewater funds have to pay for themselves. The 2024 presentation lists their revenue sources as rates from current customers, capital investment fees from developers and homebuilders, and loans and grants. Staff modeled two outcomes in the April 14, 2026 memo. In Scenario A, the pipeline projects stall, near-term fund balances drop, and the Town becomes more likely to defer projects. In Scenario B, permits keep coming in even at the old fees, which strengthens near-term balances and reduces "the risk of project delays and rate pressure." Put simply, homes built at the lower fee still help keep rates in check for existing customers.

The new tier is also not a fixed ceiling. The memo expects regular annual adjustments, including inflationary increases recommended in the rate and fee study's financial plan.

Sage Farms Is the First Big Test

Wellington's largest planned subdivision is still working through approvals. Sage Farms covers roughly 300 acres at Colorado Highway 1 and George W. Bush Avenue. It is being developed by Sage Homes owner Daren Roberson and received preliminary plat approval in August 2025. In the Town's announcement, Roberson called it "the first project in Wellington that will bring multiple types of price point homes to one community." Plans include 10 acres of neighborhood commercial space in the first phase.

At the October 5, 2026 Planning Commission meeting, staff said the developer was still preparing the final plat and coordinating with the Colorado Department of Transportation before returning for final approvals. Staff also said the PUD allows attached units. Since the final plat hasn't been recorded, Sage Farms can't qualify as a Pipeline Development through that first milestone. The ordinance lists two other milestones: an executed development agreement or memorandum of agreement, or a complete building permit application, either one dated before April 1, 2026. The Town decides eligibility lot by lot when permits are filed. Any Sage Farms lot that doesn't qualify will be built under the full-cost tier from the start.

Meanwhile, the resale market is in less of a hurry. In August 2026, Wellington single-family homes took a median 95 days to sell, up from 67 a year earlier. Inventory was 48 homes, or 2.8 months of supply. When resale homes are taking longer to sell, a builder carrying higher fees has to compete with them on price.

Questions to Put to a Wellington Builder

1. Is this lot a Pipeline Development under Ordinance 04-2026, and which milestone qualified it?
2. Has the building permit application been submitted and accepted as complete?
3. Is the yard irrigated with Town potable water or a non-Town irrigation source?
4. Was the raw-water requirement met by dedicating water rights or by paying cash-in-lieu?
5. How do the water and wastewater fees show up in the base price or the closing figures?

FAQ

Do these fees apply to resale homes?

No. Capital investment fees and raw-water requirements are charged when a new home connects to the system. A resale buyer takes on the monthly rates, and how a home is irrigated still shapes the summer bill.

When does the lower tier end?

Pipeline lots pay the Ordinance 12-2024 fees until March 31, 2030. A lot whose complete permit application has been accepted before that date keeps that fee.

Where can I check the current numbers?

The Town's fee schedule, effective October 1, 2026, is posted on the Town website. The Building Department's number, 970-821-5078, is listed on that schedule for questions about whether a lot qualifies.

This post is general information about Town ordinances and isn't legal, tax or financial advice, so confirm how they apply to a specific lot with the Town and the right professional.

If you're weighing a Wellington new build against a resale, Bison Real Estate Group can help you get answers to these builder questions before you sign. Let's Connect, and while we're at it, we can run a home valuation on the house you're selling so you can see how both sides of the move line up.