Joint Statement of Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez and Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal

In June 2026, the City of Colorado Springs announced its intention to separate from the existing El Paso-Teller County 911 Authority (EPTC-911) and establish a standalone City authority. The development of this authority is pending approval of the Colorado Springs City Council.

Colorado Springs made this decision after a careful analysis of current EPTC-911 revenue and funding distribution, the public safety needs of the citizens of Colorado Springs, and because the City is pursuing a different technology path than many of our regional partners.

The city-specific model Colorado Springs is pursuing is not a new idea. It has been, and is, the model used for decades by other large Colorado cities, including Denver, Aurora, and Pueblo. These cities and their surrounding partners have existed on separate funding mechanisms for many years, and each of these regions maintains robust 911 services and regional partnerships with each other.

It is also important to understand that, while EPTC-911 serves an important role in the region's 911 infrastructure, it does not answer 911 calls or dispatch first responders. Local public agencies, like the Colorado Springs 911 Center, answer those calls.

EPTC-911 serves our region as an administrative body that collects public funds, provides financial and technology support to 911 centers, conducts public outreach, and performs other administrative tasks. The six 911 centers it provides support to are Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Teller County, Woodland Park, Cripple Creek, and Fort Carson.

Given recent public statements, Colorado Springs is providing additional context to our decision. We believe this context is key to understanding Colorado Springs' position and the reason we are advocating for this change.

2025 United States Census Bureau data list the following population information for Colorado Springs, El Paso County, and Teller County:

JURISDICTION	POPULATION	REGIONAL POPULATION %
Colorado Springs	494,743	63.28
El Paso County - not including Colorado Springs	262,297	33.55
Teller County - including Woodland Park & Cripple Creek	24,756	3.17
TOTAL	781,796	100.0%

The City of Colorado Springs represents over 63 percent of the regional population within EPTC-911, and our city's 911 center receives nearly 75 percent of all 911 calls in the region. As a result, Colorado Springs residents also contribute the majority of funding to EPTC-911. However, Colorado Springs residents have only three dedicated voting positions of nine total on the EPTC-911 board. Colorado Springs residents' dedicated voting share is not proportional to their population, 911 call volume, and revenue contribution.

Additionally, while there is no specific way to determine the exact amount of 911 surcharge revenue paid by a city or county within a regional authority, the majority of surcharge payments come from cellular telephones. Based on population data, it is estimated that residents and businesses in these jurisdictions will pay the following amount of 911 surcharges in 2026:

JURISDICTION	SURCHARGE PAID
Colorado Springs	$13,109,518
El Paso County - not including Colorado Springs	$6,950,436
Teller County - including Woodland Park & Cripple Creek	$656,077
TOTAL	$20,716,031

These surcharges are collected by EPTC-911 from telephone service providers in these jurisdictions and placed into a regional funding pool. That regional funding pool does not have a defined formula for how money is equitably distributed to various 911 centers based on their size, population served, or 911 call volume.

Colorado Springs believes our residents and businesses are materially disadvantaged under the current EPTC-911 funding structure. Multiple publicly available budgetary and funding documents from EPTC-911 show Colorado Springs residents receive much less funding on a per-resident or per-911 call basis than other jurisdictions within EPTC-911.

An example of this is salary assistance, which the surcharge revenue pays for as authorized by Colorado law. EPTC-911 distributes $50,000 per year for each authorized 911 dispatcher and call taker position in a 911 center, and this money helps offset the cost of those salaries. In 2026, the following amounts of salary assistance will be paid to the area 911 centers with public funding collected by EPTC-911:

911 CENTER	# POSITIONS FUNDED	2026 SALARY ASSISTANCE	POPULATION	FUNDING PER RESIDENT	FUNDING PER 911 CALL **
Colorado Springs	91	$4,550,000	494,743	$9.20	$20.00
El Paso County - excluding Colorado Springs	56	$2,800,000	262,297	$10.67	$42.53
Teller County	15	$750,000	15,787 *	$47.51	$194.82
Woodland Park	9	$450,000	8,014	$56.15	$248.01
Cripple Creek	9.5	$475,000	955	$497.38	$568.72

* Teller County population minus Woodland Park & Cripple Creek, which have their own 911 centers.

** 2026 year-to-date 911 call volume ending May 2026, per EPTC-911 data.

In this example, Colorado Springs residents receive up to 54 times less salary assistance funding on a per-resident basis, and up to 28 times less salary assistance funding on a per-911 call basis, than other jurisdictions within EPTC-911. Similar concerns exist in the purchasing of equipment and other areas.

In another example, as of May 2026, the average annual salary of an EPTC-911 employee is $113,370. For this same period, the average annual salary of a Colorado Springs 911 center employee is $64,313.

These data points are just a few that illustrate a key point in our proposed separation: Colorado Springs residents and businesses are providing millions of dollars of 911 surcharge revenue to a regional authority at a time the City faces significant funding shortfalls, while shouldering the bulk of regional administrative, technology, and program costs within EPTC-911.

The City of Colorado Springs believes public safety partnerships are critical, and we will continue them as we always have. Our public safety departments lead or partner in many of our current regional collaborations, including the Metro Division, the Internet Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Task Force, Pikes Peak Regional Communications Network, Pikes Peak Fire Chiefs Council, and Pikes Peak Mutual Aid, to name a few. However, partnership must also be equitable. Colorado Springs cannot continue under a model that requires its residents and businesses to disproportionately subsidize costs outside our city while we face our own critical public safety needs.

In the days following our separation notice to EPTC-911, Colorado Springs representatives proactively met with EPTC-911 leadership to convey our willingness to listen to proposals for the City to remain within EPTC-911. The City continues to welcome those discussions, with the understanding that any realistic proposal should ensure equitable treatment to all jurisdictions. At a minimum, this means:

Colorado Springs recognizes that any separation or restructuring requires our elected officials, public safety leaders, city, regional partners, and EPTC-911 to continue working closely together. The City is committed to ensuring that this occurs and seeks a regional 911 future that is equitable to everyone while maintaining public safety as our highest priority.