As a homeowner, it’s comforting to have a neighborhood partner as many of you do with your local metro district. Metro districts provide needed public infrastructure and a level of accountability that supports a healthy growing community.
Simply put, metro districts are an established unit of local government with multiple levels of regulatory oversight. With elected board members who own property, live, and work in the community, these local boards oversee management of the metro district and strictly adhere to regulated limits on taxation, fees, and services. Homeowners also have oversight opportunities; they may attend public meetings and run for office, allowing them to influence metro district operations and financing.
Millions of Coloradans are past, current, or future residents of one of 2,200+ metro districts across the state, which offer amenities people desire and public infrastructure they depend on for a functioning neighborhood. Here are five benefits you can expect from your metro district.
Metropolitan districts represent a financing mechanism that builds vibrant communities while distributing costs fairly to those who directly benefit from new infrastructure and amenities, rather than taxing residents of an entire city for new sidewalks, roads, pipes, playgrounds and more.
In Colorado today, we face a critical housing shortage. The Bell Policy Center reports that our state needs 40,950 new housing units annually through 2030 to meet growing demand. Metro districts are able to deliver solutions to the challenges of significant population growth, and to help finance the infrastructure necessary to support it.
Here’s one example: when new neighborhoods are built, the costs per home for the infrastructure––water pipes, electric lines, streetlights––typically range from $50,000-$150,000 per home. A metro district allows these costs to be carried over 30-40 years through mill levies on property taxes, rather than burdening homebuyers with massive upfront costs. According to the National Association of Homebuilders, each $1,000 increase in the median-priced new home pushes more than 127,000 U.S. households out of the market.
Without metro districts, municipalities or counties would need to either raise taxes significantly on all residents, require developers to incorporate infrastructure costs directly into home prices, or not have the necessary housing built for their workforce and others. With the help of metro districts in keeping home prices reasonable, the dream of home ownership remains affordable to more Coloradans.
Colorado Senate Bill 23-110 in 2023 further and formally advanced the level of accountability of metro districts. This legislation set mandatory mill levy and debt limits, required annual meetings, and strengthened disclosure practices for homebuyers.
Metro districts are not allowed to arbitrarily increase taxes on residents or extend the terms of repayment – service plans set these important debt and mill levy caps as well as the time frames for debt repayment as protections for residents and property owners.
Throughout Colorado, metro districts fund projects that otherwise might never materialize. Here are a couple of exciting local projects that have been developed.
The Tallyn’s Reach Metropolitan District tapped into the City of Aurora’s water conservation rebate programs to install new irrigation equipment that optimized water use and converted non-native grasses to native, as well as xeriscaping. This smart conservation by the metro district board saves over 24 million gallons of water a year, saves the residents over $185,000 a year in utilities, and helpes maintain biodiversity by planting native grasses.
In Archuleta County, the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Metro District has funded maintenance and improvements for roads, lakes, greenbelts, and recreational amenities for over 6,000 properties, supports wildfire mitigation efforts in high-risk zones and acts as a local governance tool in an unincorporated area with limited county resources.
From the Front Range to the Western Slope, metro districts across Colorado help new homeowners enjoy community-wide resources (like roads, bridges and sidewalks) as well as amenities (like swimming pools, parks and playgrounds) that everyone needs and wants in their neighborhoods.
Metro districts offer solutions that work. Your local metro district website hosts a variety of information specific to your community to help you understand the important work they’re doing to champion your neighborhood.
What’s more, our team here at the Metro District Education Coalition (MDEC) is here on behalf of homeowners across Colorado. We advocate for best practices in the formation and operations of metro districts and promote improved transparency and accountability within these entities and to you as a homeowner.
The MDEC website also has a plethora of helpful materials and information including the latest news, events, blogs, videos, and myth busters. We even have a “Knowledge Center” with detailed information about metro districts tailored just for you. Check out our site today, or contact us any time if you would like to host a “Metro District 101” training in your area.