#10 Help Paying For Mitigation

#10 Are there programs that will help pay for mitigation?

The simple answer is yes BUT they usually will pay only 50% of the out-of-pocket cost, and often are based on your income. Most won’t pay for your own labor.

More Details: Most granting agencies fund strategic, landscape-level mitigation efforts, rather than “random acts of mitigation” such as mitigation of a single parcel of land.  A group of neighbors that all commit to meeting mitigation standards have a better chance of getting grant support. 

Some counties (but not Jefferson, Clear Creek or Park counties in Colorado), have used a voter-approved wildfire tax to support residents’ mitigation education and work.  Boulder County has such a voter-approved tax, as do a number of counties in California. Jefferson County is looking at establishing a “micro-grant” program to offset some of the cost of individual hardening and mitigation.

Colorado offers a state tax incentive for out-of-pocket mitigation expenses for work that meets or exceeds state mitigation standards. The rules on this link are complex. There is a subtraction from gross income that everyone is eligible for; there is also a more lucrative tax credit for filers with income of $126,300 or less in 2024. It is expiring in 2025 unless extended by the legislature. 

There are some grants for mitigation that are available to non-profit organizations.