METRO DISTRICTS
WHAT THEY ARE
WHY THEY EXIST
WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU AS A HOMEBUYER
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
FORT COLLINS SENIOR CENTER - 1200 Raintree Dr, Fort Collins, CO 80526
6:30 PM
(SPACE IS LIMITED! REGISTER EARLY!)
Colorado is home to more than 2,000 metropolitan districts. These independent quasi-governmental entities have become an important tool for new housing development in Colorado.
Metro districts are formed to finance, design, acquire, install, construct, operate and/or maintain public improvements that are not otherwise being provided. Since the 1980s, local governments no longer construct or own all major infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, instead requiring that new development “pay its way.”
Advocates of metro districts argue that if these costs were included in the price of each home, more residents would be priced out of the market. Instead, metro districts spread these costs over time, and residents of the metro district pay them through long-term property tax repayments.
Metropolitan districts have come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Residents claim that they lack an adequate voice with respect to how metro districts’ property taxes are calculated and that these taxes are not adequately disclosed to potential homebuyers. Often, the developers who formed the districts decide how much debt future residents will pay to cover the infrastructure costs. Interest rates can be high.
Learn the facts about metro districts from some of the State’s leading experts. This session will cover both the benefits and downsides of metro districts, preparing you to be an informed homebuyer!
OUR PANELISTS:
- Darin Atteberry, Moderator – Northern Colorado Market President, Elevations Credit Union, and former City Manager of the City of Fort Collins
- Ian McCargar – Former Town Attorney, City of Windsor
- Sam Sharp – Managing Director, Special District Group of Piper Sandler
- Carolynne White – Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
- John Henderson – Attorney, Founding Member of Coloradans for Metro District Reform