Metropolitan districts facilitate the construction of public infrastructure that is vital to the success of new development and redevelopment throughout the state. MDEC serves as a resource to educate Coloradans on how metropolitan districts work, to describe the impact that they have on our communities, and to promote additional transparency and accountability in the marketplace.
What is a metropolitan district?
Watch our new video to better understand what a metropolitan district is and how it impacts your community!
Lower Home Prices
Metropolitan districts can lower home prices by providing governments access to low-cost, tax-exempt capital early in the development cycle. This allows for the creation of more housing, which ultimately creates lower costs in the housing market.
Growth Pays Its Way
Metropolitan districts ensure that growth pays its own way. They allow new growth to pay for public infrastructure rather than imposing those costs on all residents of a municipality or county.
Heavily Regulated
Metropolitan districts are heavily regulated in state statute and by the municipalities and counties that authorize them. These measures ensure that protections for homeowners are in place upon formation of a new district. Following the bankruptcy of several metropolitan districts in the 1980s, the State Legislature enacted numerous measures to provide protections for homeowners and investors.
Low Property Taxes
Residential property taxes in Colorado are well below the national average at 0.53% on average (taxfoundation.org). Properties within metropolitan districts generally pay the same property taxes as the average American.