Why two nearly identical homes a few miles apart can carry very different monthly payments — and how to check before you write an offer. Last reviewed August 24, 2026.
A metropolitan district is a unit of local government formed under Title 32 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. It is not an HOA. It is a political subdivision of the state with the power to levy property taxes, issue municipal bonds, and charge fees.
Developers form metro districts to finance the streets, water lines, sewer, landscaping, and parks in a new subdivision. The district borrows the money up front, builds the infrastructure, and repays the bonds through property taxes levied on the homeowners who move in later. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs describes them as "a third level of government," separate from the county and the municipality.
Many Denver-area subdivisions have both a metro district and an HOA. They are different things, and you pay both.
| Metro district (Title 32) | HOA (CCIOA, Title 38) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Local government | Private nonprofit corporation |
| What it charges | Property tax (mill levy) on your county tax bill | Assessments billed by the association |
| Can issue tax-backed bonds | Yes | No |
| Open meetings and public records | Yes | No |
| If you don't pay | County tax lien sale | Assessment lien |
Because the metro district mill levy stacks on top of the county, city, school, fire, and library levies. Same town, same county, same schools — different total tax bill.
Douglas County's published mill levy report for tax year 2025 shows this cleanly within Castle Rock:
| Taxing authority | Meadows Metro District 1 | Castle Rock, no metro district |
|---|---|---|
| Douglas County government | 19.774 | 19.774 |
| Douglas RE-1 School | 39.752 | 39.752 |
| School debt service | 5.776 | 5.776 |
| Town of Castle Rock | 0.920 | 0.920 |
| Cedar Hill Cemetery | 0.104 | 0.104 |
| Douglas Public Library | 3.519 | 3.519 |
| Metro district | 35.000 | — |
| Total mill levy | 104.845 | 69.845 |
Every line is identical except one. The metro district adds 35.000 mills — a 50% increase in the total levy — for two houses that could be three miles apart.
Levies vary widely. The same Douglas County report shows Villages at Castle Rock Metro District 6 certifying 75.286 mills on its own, pushing some Castle Rock tax areas past 159 total mills. In Weld County, an Erie tax area including Westerly Metro District No. 2 at 70.425 mills totals 177.721 mills, while another Erie area with a much smaller district totals 112.601.
At 2026 rates, a 50-mill district adds roughly $153 per month on a $600,000 home. A 35-mill district adds about $107. A 70-mill district adds about $214.
Colorado no longer uses a single residential assessment rate — a detail most calculators get wrong. For tax year 2026, residential property is assessed at 7.05% for school district levies and 6.8% for all other local governments, including metro districts, after subtracting the lesser of 10% of actual value or $70,000. Metro districts are not school districts, so they use the second rate.
| Metro district mill levy | Added annually | Added monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 35 mills | $1,285.20 | $107.10 |
| 40 mills | $1,468.80 | $122.40 |
| 50 mills | $1,836.00 | $153.00 |
| 60 mills | $2,203.20 | $183.60 |
| 70 mills | $2,570.40 | $214.20 |
The shortcut worth memorizing: 10 mills costs about $61 per year — roughly $5.10 per month — for every $100,000 of home value, at 2026 rates. A 60-mill district on a $500,000 house is therefore around $153 a month.
Illustrative figures based on the statutory formula and stated assumptions. Your actual taxes depend on the assessor's value, your specific tax area, and levies certified each December.
Not in the way most buyers are told. The 50-mill figure in C.R.S. § 32-1-1101(6)(b) is a condition on issuing certain limited-tax general obligation debt — not a ceiling on a district's total levy.
Three things break the "capped at 50 mills" assumption:
| District mill levy | Number of districts |
|---|---|
| 50.01 – 59.99 | 183 |
| 60.00 – 69.99 | 244 |
| 70.00 – 79.99 | 99 |
| 80.00 – 89.99 | 27 |
| 90.00 – 99.99 | 9 |
| 100.00 and above | 12 |
Those are the district's own mills, before county, city, school, fire, and library levies are added.
Three steps, all free, all doable before you write an offer.
1. Pull the tax authority breakdown from the county. Search the address on the county assessor or treasurer site and open the list of taxing entities on the parcel. A metro district will be named there. Adams County does not post its mill levy report publicly — you request it from the assessor's office directly.
2. Request the Certificate of Taxes Due from the county treasurer. This is the authoritative line-item statement of every taxing authority on the property, and it is exactly what Colorado's disclosure statute tells buyers to obtain.
3. Look the district up in DOLA's Local Government Information System. The state file holds the district's service plan, budget, boundary map, and its annual Notice to Electors, which states the current mill levy. Districts formed since 2000 must also maintain their own public website disclosing the maximum mill levy they can levy to repay debt.
The Department of Local Affairs also publishes a due-diligence list for buyers. Two questions from it are worth asking every time: how much authorized-but-unissued debt does the district hold, and what is the ratio of district debt to assessed valuation? DOLA states that debt greater than 50% of assessed valuation "may be considered a 'red flag.'"
Yes — and as of August 6, 2025, the requirement covers resales, not just new construction.
Colorado has long required a bold-faced special taxing district disclosure in every residential purchase contract under C.R.S. § 38-35.7-101, warning that owners "may be placed at risk for increased mill levies." That obligation sits with the seller, and a buyer who doesn't receive it has a statutory claim for damages.
House Bill 25-1219 went further. Effective August 6, 2025, it extended the metro district disclosure to all sellers of residential property inside a district organized on or after January 1, 2000. The seller must provide the service plan, the district's authority to issue debt and levy taxes and impose fees, a current certificate of taxes due, and an estimate of the district's taxes — now required as a specific dollar amount rather than a rate or range. It must be delivered at or before contract execution.
If you are buying a resale in a post-2000 district and did not receive this, ask for it.
Because Colorado values property as of January 1, and a home finished mid-year is often still taxed as vacant land for its first cycle.
The first bill can be a fraction of the stabilized bill once the house is on the tax roll and the district's debt levy applies. Colorado's own mandated disclosure language warns about it directly, stating that first year property taxes "may be based on a previous year's tax classification, which may not include the full value of the property and, consequently, taxes may be higher in subsequent years."
The mortgage consequence: if an escrow account was funded from that low first bill, the shortage appears at the first escrow analysis, and the monthly payment increases. Escrowed tax and insurance estimates carry no tolerance restriction under TRID, so a low initial figure is not a violation — and gives you no protection. Ask what tax figure the escrow was built on.
District taxes are part of the qualifying payment, so they reduce your maximum loan amount.
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide requires all components of the monthly housing expense — including real estate taxes — in the qualifying payment, calculated on no less than the current assessed value. Metro district mills are real estate taxes. They go in.
On a $600,000 home in a 50-mill district, that is $153 a month of qualifying payment before principal and interest. In a 70-mill district it is $214. Two buyers with identical income and credit will qualify for measurably different purchase prices depending on which subdivision they shop — which is why the district should be checked before the pre-approval letter goes out, not after the appraisal.
This is also the most common reason a buyer's payment estimate changes late in a transaction. It is avoidable with one lookup.
Assessment rates, mill levies, and statutes change. Confirm current figures directly with the agency before relying on them.
About the author. Scott Smith is a U.S. Army veteran, a licensed mortgage loan originator with Citywide Home Mortgage (NMLS #2244351; Company NMLS #2611), and a HomeSmart Realty real estate agent (Colorado Broker License #100078434) working the Denver metro. Because he holds both licenses, he sees how a metro district levy changes a qualifying payment and how it changes a negotiation. Free consultation at smithapprovesme.com.
Educational only; not financial, legal, or tax advice, and not a commitment to lend. Tax figures on this page are illustrations based on the statutory assessment formula and the stated assumptions — they are not an estimate of taxes for any specific property and not a quote. Mill levies are certified annually by each taxing authority and change; assessment rates are set by the Colorado legislature and change. Verify current figures with the county assessor, county treasurer, and the district before relying on them. Nothing here is a determination of eligibility or qualification. Scott Smith, NMLS #2244351 | Citywide Home Mortgage, NMLS #2611 | Equal Housing Lender.