In Longmont, the local YMCA is closing down at the end of the month for financial reasons, even as residents say it stays busy.

Chris Coker, the CEO for Northern Colorado YMCA, says he can’t afford to keep Longmont’s doors open any longer as it has been losing money for years. However, some visitors shared that they are skeptical — as Coker has been accused of mishandling funds in a past audit. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Just days after the closure was announced this week, the Longmont YMCA was packed. On Wednesday, Linda and Steve Andrews were just arriving for a fitness class for people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Walking really well today, those classes help,” Linda Andrews said to her husband.

Randy Pollard said the class is one of very few of its kind in the area, adding, “I’ve been coming here for so long. This has been home, you know. So we’d really miss it if it closes.”

Another class member, Charlie Corsan, had just learned about the closure and possible end of his class, adding, “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Across the parking lot, Danae Higdon was also struggling with the news after she said she taught Zumba at the facility for more than 30 years.

“We were, like, in shock to find out that Feb. 28 is our last day,” Higdon said.

The closure means she will be losing her community and only source of income.

“It’s been very hard because, you know, my class, my class is like family to me. We all get together here, we all laugh and we all share our problems and dance away all our pain, and very soon we’re not going to have this,” Higdon said.

Even though Higdon says the Longmont branch consistently reached membership and fundraising goals, CEO Coker says the Longmont branch has lost $500,000 over the last few years, leading to this month’s closure.

Coker said he’s gotten a lot of hate mail recently and understands that he “could have given more warning” but says he is financially forced to face the “reality of the situation.”

Coker says alongside declining donations and less federal funding, the Longmont YMCA only has 300 full paying members while the rest are on a discounted SilverSneakers insurance program.

When CBS Colorado asked Coker if there were enough visitors, even with a full parking lot during CBS Colorado’s visit, Coker said, “You can have a lot of people in there, but when they’re all paying $4 for a 50,000 square foot plus building, it doesn’t add up financially.”

Coker estimates the organization would need a $250,000 donation for the Longmont location in order to stay open.

In an effort to save the Longmont YMCA, Coker says he’s worked for months to sell it to the city of Longmont and has been working to negotiate a deal. However, the City of Longmont responded to the closure with a statement that they’re considering the project but “…no agreement has been reached, and the city has made no commitments.”

The city of Longmont does not have a clear timeline for when this project could be addressed next.

“Some of these (visitors) have been there for 40 years as members. It’s their family, it’s their friends, it’s their social life, and we’re ripping that away from them. It’s not okay, but it’s the reality of the situation we’re in,” Coker said.

Coker says the Longmont YMCA will look into if they can transfer any classes to other Northern Colorado YMCAs in the next few weeks. Northern Colorado YMCA says they will keep preschool and summer camps open.

Meanwhile, Higdon is holding out hope for a solution, sharing “We are very sad, but … I know we’re going to find a way to keep it going, to keep dancing.”

Colorado is second in the nation for hail insurance claims, and new data shows just how much hail is impacting insurance premiums for homeowners.

The Colorado Division of Insurance calculated average premiums for 11 counties across the state based on data from 20 insurers representing 80% of the market. It found wildfire accounts for between 1% and 25% of premiums while hail accounts for 26% and 54% of premiums, even in areas that don’t see a lot of hail.

The Division of Insurance says insurers are spreading hail risk across the state but only targeting high risk areas when pricing wildfire risk.

Last year, state lawmakers considered a bill that would have assessed a fee on all homeowners policies statewide to fund a grant program for hail-fortified roofs. Coloradans could apply for money to help offset the cost of the roofs. The bill failed.

Lawmakers are now working on a new bill to help bring hail fortified roofs to scale in Colorado, but it’s unclear how they will fund it.

Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, says other states have used taxes from premiums but, in Colorado, those taxes go into the general fund, which is already strained, and fees or surcharges will only get passed on to policyholders.

“We all agree that a grant mitigation program for hail impact resistant roofs — get people to get those roofs on, help bring down premiums — but then how do we pay for those grants? That becomes the question that we can’t quite figure out.”

Gov. Jared Polis supported the bill that would have assessed a fee on policyholders but, he says, he’s open to other funding mechanisms too.

“It’s not an entire solution on its own — I’d love to see other pieces to it that can reduce homeowners insurance — but this piece of when somebody’s making the decision about what kind of roof they replace their roof with when it’s damaged? Over the next decade or two we’ve got to get to place — especially in the Front Range — where more people have hail resistant roofs and that will reduce rates for everybody,” Polis said.

According to Insurify, Colorado has the fourth most expensive homeowners’ insurance in the country with an average premium of $6,630. That’s an 11% increase over last year.

The Division of Insurance says hail fortified roofs could save Coloradans between $82 and $387 a year while wildfire mitigation would save between $3 and $25.

The governor’s office and the state’s Division of Insurance released the following data which shows the impact of current hail claims on insurance premiums in Colorado.