HB 17-1174

HB 17-1174 is a Colorado bill that allows rural counties with fewer than 50,000 people to create local improvement districts to fund better internet or phone services in areas that currently lack these services. This means the county can work with telecommunications companies to build and maintain advanced service infrastructure, which would be owned and operated by those companies. The bill has been signed into law, so rural counties can now use this method to improve access to essential communication services for their residents.

Official Summary

Under current law, a county seeking to establish a local improvement district to fund a telecommunications service improvement may construct the improvement if the county has an agreement with a telecommunications service provider to provide service, facilities, plants, or systems in the area in which the improvement will be constructed. The improvement must then be owned, operated, and maintained by the telecommunications service provider. The bill allows a rural county with a population of fewer than 50,000 inhabitants to establish a local improvement district to fund an advanced service improvement in an unserved area of the county under the same conditions that apply to the funding of a telecommunications service improvement through a local improvement district. The bill also defines the terms 'advanced service', 'rural county', and unserved area'. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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