In Colorado the water district sets the price, not the county

Government fees to build one identical 2,000 sq ft single-family home in unincorporated Colorado — 4 counties. Impact fees, water and sewer tap fees from the special district that actually serves the parcel, construction use tax, and building permits. Every figure sourced and dated.

The same 2,000 sq ft house, across every lot type in these 4 counties $8,276 – $135,958 The lot sets this price, not the county. Three things move it: whether the parcel has district water at all, which tap class the district assigns the lot, and whether the developer already dedicated raw water rights. Hold one lot fixed and only the last applies — still a 3.1× swing on the tap. The water and sewer tap is 63–89% of every case modeled below.
Impact & mobility fees
Water & sewer connection
Permits, surcharges & other
Range across lots (bold number = the case modeled)
Larimer County$20,662 – $130,763$85,905
Douglas County$55,528 – $67,602$55,528
El Paso County$8,276 – $52,885$31,089
Weld County$12,658 – $135,958$30,158
$0$33,990$67,979$101,969$135,958

What drives each number

CountyModeled caseRange
Larimer County Water and sewer: East Larimer County Water District (ELCO) Modeled: East Larimer County Water District tap on a ~10,000 sq ft lot plus septic, inside the Fort Collins growth management area, Poudre schools $85,905$20,662
–$130,763
Douglas County Water and sewer: Dominion Water & Sanitation District Modeled: Dominion Water & Sanitation District (Sterling Ranch), the main greenfield single-family area in unincorporated Douglas County $55,528$55,528
–$67,602
El Paso County Water and sewer: Widefield Water & Sanitation District Modeled: Widefield Water & Sanitation District, platted subdivision with curb and gutter $31,089$8,276
–$52,885
Weld County Water and sewer: Little Thompson Water District Modeled: Little Thompson Water District tap in a platted subdivision where the developer already dedicated water rights and installed the meter pit, plus septic $30,158$12,658
–$135,958
In Colorado the county is almost never the expensive part Douglas County's own fees — permits, plan review, use tax, road impact — total $6,058. The water tap on the same lot is $49,470, charged by an independent Title 32 special district that answers to its own elected board and publishes its own schedule. Across these four counties the tap is 63–89% of the modeled stack, and above 90% wherever the developer has not already dedicated raw water rights. It is never the county. If you priced a Colorado lot off the county fee schedule, you priced roughly a tenth of it.
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Every figure is transcribed from an official county, special-district or Colorado Revised Statutes document with its effective date and a direct link. Gaps are reported as gaps, never estimated.