WEEK OF JUNE 8, 2023
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 33
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Calls for metro district reform mount
COLD DAY, WARM HUGS
Homeowners fed up with metro districts but changes are hard to come by BY ROBERT DAVIS YELLOW SCENE MAGAZINE
Nyko Brown holds a dog that is up for adoption at iResQ tent June 3 at the Westminster Farmer’s Market. The rescue and rehabilitation company sent home five dogs before noon. The market was well attended despite stormy skies and rain and PHOTO BY LUKE ZARZECKI temperatures that didn’t get above 60 degrees. See more photos on page 6.
CALENDAR: 11 | VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | SPORTS: 22
Andrew Sorensen and his wife Samantha were elated when they bought their home in Broomfield’s Baseline neighborhood in September 2022 after nearly a year of bidding on homes that were overpriced and uninhabitable in some cases. However, Sorensen said that excitement quickly turned to trepidation after the couple learned that their home was controlled by a metropolitan district, a controversial tool that Colorado developers use to build homes. Sorensen’s home is part of Baseline Metropolitan District 3, one of nine metro districts that are responsible for developing homes and maintaining the necessary infrastructure like roads, water lines, and sewer systems. Colorado law also allows metro districts to issue bonds to finance its work, and those bonds are often paid back through property tax mill levies. So far, the metro district has codified about $764 million in bonds that it can issue to investors. The debt incurred by these bonds would be paid back by Baseline homeowners over the next several decades. There’s just one catch: The board members that set the Baseline Metropolitan District’s tax levels all work for McWhinney Real Estate Services, the developer building the neighborhood. SEE DISTRICTS, P10
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GLOBAL MOVEMENT Studio brings in dance from around the world. P8