County Incentives
Depending on their address, businesses located in Berthoud can access many incentives from Larimer and Weld Counties.
Personal Property Tax Rebates
The Larimer County Board of Commissioners and the Weld County Board of Commissioners offer personal property tax rebates to qualifying businesses. Larimer County’s policy for qualifying companies is to rebate up to 50% of personal property taxes for up to five years, and Weld County’s policy for qualifying companies is to rebate up to 50% of personal property taxes for up to ten years stature.
Business incentive proposals are evaluated on the overall economic impact to the County. Factors include the amount of capital investment, employment growth, industry classification and wage levels for jobs being created. All incentives are considered on a case-by-case basis, and incentives will only be considered prior to a company making a final site location decision.
Weld County CEF Business Loan Fund
The Colorado Enterprise Fund (CEF) is a non-profit lender specializing in loans up to $250,000 for small businesses. CEF works with start-up and existing businesses with rates/terms that vary, making their lending guidelines more flexible than traditional banks. CEF also administrates the Weld County Business Loan Fund, which is only available to Weld County-based small businesses who meet CEF program underwriting criteria.
Upon becoming a CEF borrower, an online community of expertise, knowledge sharing, resources, and referrals is available to help a business achieve peak performance. Advisory assistance includes: bookkeeping, cash flow management, profitability analysis, technology issues, etc.
The Weld/Larimer Revolving Loan Fund
The Weld/Larimer Revolving Loan Fund (“RLF”) was established to assist with the financial needs of companies expanding or locating to the rural areas of Weld or Larimer County.
The RLF can provide short-term financing for up to 45% of project costs and may assume a second or third collateral position in order to leverage other lender involvement. The minimum loan amount is $50,000. Based on the financial needs of the applicant, the use of the borrowed funds and the borrower’s credit history, typical terms will be for a term of 5-7 years and interest rates will be based on the consumer prime rate (currently 4.0%)
Since the program was started in 1991, the RLF has loaned a total of $13.3 million to a total of 77 companies. These loans leveraged more than $103 million in capital investment and enabled those companies to create or retain 1,708 full-time employees.
The Enterprise Zone Program
Colorado’s Enterprise Zone (EZ) program provides tax incentives that encourage businesses to locate and expand in economically distressed areas of the state. The program encourages job creation and capital investment by providing tax credits to businesses and projects that promote and encourage economic development activities within the Enterprise Zone. Larimer and Weld County actively encourage businesses to use the EZ program to facilitate economic development, business growth and job creation.
Other Weld County Advantages
Due to significant investments by the oil and gas industry, Weld County does not have short or long-term debt or a sales tax. The County also has a low mill levy and pays for long term projects with cash.
