Metropolitan District Homeowners’ Rights Task Force

Comments/Considerations On The Task Force's Interim Report

• Share Pay off the Metropolitan District Bonds, like a second mortgage, on a thirty year amortization as started in the annual disclosure to the City and County Treasurer setting the Mill Levy on Facebook Share Pay off the Metropolitan District Bonds, like a second mortgage, on a thirty year amortization as started in the annual disclosure to the City and County Treasurer setting the Mill Levy on Twitter Share Pay off the Metropolitan District Bonds, like a second mortgage, on a thirty year amortization as started in the annual disclosure to the City and County Treasurer setting the Mill Levy on Linkedin Email Pay off the Metropolitan District Bonds, like a second mortgage, on a thirty year amortization as started in the annual disclosure to the City and County Treasurer setting the Mill Levy link

  Pay off the Metropolitan District Bonds, like a second mortgage, on a thirty year amortization as started in the annual disclosure to the City and County Treasurer setting the Mill Levy

  by Liam in Broomfield, over 2 years ago
  I purchased my home in 2009 and the MD bond was in repayment on a straight line, 30 year, amortization schedule, ending in 2034. In 2012, the first homeowner, joined four developer friendly board members and they decided to Refinance the existing bonds. Replacing straight line amortization, with back-end, step bond repayment terms (68% of total P+I) repayable in last eight years before the 2034 termination date. Before the refinancing was initiate, the law firm submitted a report to DORAs website, referencing a new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) the termination date was now “Undetermined.“

  
  

  At the annual Master HOA meeting, a... Continue reading

  I purchased my home in 2009 and the MD bond was in repayment on a straight line, 30 year, amortization schedule, ending in 2034. In 2012, the first homeowner, joined four developer friendly board members and they decided to Refinance the existing bonds. Replacing straight line amortization, with back-end, step bond repayment terms (68% of total P+I) repayable in last eight years before the 2034 termination date. Before the refinancing was initiate, the law firm submitted a report to DORAs website, referencing a new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) the termination date was now “Undetermined.“

  
  

  At the annual Master HOA meeting, a MD#2 Board member stood up, announced the MD#2 debt had been refinanced, in order to take advantage of reduced interest rates and the homeowners would see a reduction in the MD#2 taxes in 2014. However, several salient facts were omitted:

  1. $2,000,000 would be added to the outstanding debt, by using Investment Bankers, instead of Community Bankers,

  2. Over $950,000 would be used unjustly enrich the prior developer bond holders due to early pay out,

  3. In order to meet the reported 2034 bond payoff date, the Mill Levy for the last seven years would exceed 20 percent, (these payments would almost triple the MD related tax payments required in 2012,

  4. Future Board members would find these high mill levy’s unacceptable and the MD would run back to the Investment Bankers for a third refinancing, possibly adding an additional $1,000,000 price tag to bring those bonds to market,

  5. MD#2 debt expiration date would be pushed back from 2034 to possibly 2065,

  6. Early Homeowners, who make huge profits from living in our neighborhood and sell quickly, will not have to pay their “fair share” of the cost needed to build the community infrastructure

  7. A real deal for long term homeowners? Not much of a total cost savings, reaching new lower interest rates

  In my opinion, if the MD#2 had representation by independent General Counsel, and the Board was held accountable to the Prudent Businessman Rule, The Duty to Care Standard and the Duty of Loyalty Standard to the MD#2, this refinancing of initiated bond debt would NOT have occurred.

  In my opinion, there is a simple solution to this inequality in debt repayment. County Treasurer Departments need to reprogram their tax tracking systems to show three additional columns:

  1. Total MD#2 debt earned

  2. Total MD#2 levied and collected

  3. MD#2 debt earned, uncollected **

  ** when a house is sold or refinanced (funds available to pay off MD#2 debt earned,, uncollected) or when the ownership of the property changes in any manner, the Earned, uncollected amount will be Zeroed out, and funds placed in a Bond Sinking fund. At this point in time, the reconciliation begins for new owners, until the MD#2 debt is paid in full.

  Once MD#2 is paid, City and County officials should have an easier time convincing town residents to approve additional General Obligation debt. If corrective action is NOT taken by City and County officials, forever refinancing MD#2 debt will suck the revenue out of the Town Council meeting rooms.

  
  

  
  
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  Community Authority Boards (CAB’s) Privatize Public Government (i.e. Sterling Ranch)

  by SR Resident, over 2 years ago

  I have lived in Sterling Ranch for over five years – we love our home, the location is beautiful and our neighbors are wonderful. But the "skeleton in the Sterling Ranch closet" is the Community Authority Board (CAB) created to govern this community. Residents have no clout in how tax dollars are spent, no ability to put the brakes on debt issuance (especially subordinate self-dealing developer debt), no voice on covenant design and enforcement, no direct voting capacity to even select simple vendors such as our trash or landscaping service, and is subservient to a water district created, managed and... Continue reading

  I have lived in Sterling Ranch for over five years – we love our home, the location is beautiful and our neighbors are wonderful. But the "skeleton in the Sterling Ranch closet" is the Community Authority Board (CAB) created to govern this community. Residents have no clout in how tax dollars are spent, no ability to put the brakes on debt issuance (especially subordinate self-dealing developer debt), no voice on covenant design and enforcement, no direct voting capacity to even select simple vendors such as our trash or landscaping service, and is subservient to a water district created, managed and run by a board of directors that largely consists of the Sterling Ranch developers. What kind of governance is this? The simple answer is an autocracy.

  Years before any dirt had been moved, the developer of this community created the Sterling Ranch CAB via an intergovernmental agreement established under Title 29 of the State Statutes. A “loophole” that creates an unyielding amount of indefinite control for developers to privatize public government, control each metro district’s finances, as well as the rules and covenants of this community. This IGA does not seem to be the true intent of Title 29. Serving on one of the metro district boards (there are seven districts, along with other sub-districts in Sterling Ranch) I was able to have a front row seat to the havoc that a CAB governing structure can present to any community. Developers, via the CAB, can have complete control over taxation and spending, covenant design and enforcement and selection of service providers (some of which have private profit motive that are owned or affiliated with the developer). This can all be done without any checks or balances (or being elected) from the 2,500+ residents of this community.

  Before any member(s) of this task force that had a hand in creating the Sterling Ranch CAB reads this testimony and jumps to predisposed conclusions - I believe Metro District’s do provide a valuable resource to meet growth demands in this State. They do serve a much needed purpose, and I am familiar with financing mechanisms for real estate development. However, master-servant and CAB structures deteriorate citizens’ rights and confidence in their ability to self-govern at the cost of private company profits. This community has been fed lies from its developers, and will continue to do so until this State starts to put the citizens it elected ahead of private enterprise and lobbyist interests. The proliferation of CAB governments in the State will continue to grow – much to the detriment of this State and its citizens. As members of this task force, please bring these abuses to light in order to stop this abuse.
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  Taxation without representation?

  by Suburban Mom, over 2 years ago

  The structure in Sterling Ranch involves multiple players: the development company that oversees construction; the Metro Districts that (in name only) serve as local government; the Community Authority Board (CAB), which coordinates actions among all the Metro Districts and uses all the tax money from them; and Dominion Water and Sanitation District.

  
  

  Currently, only a few of the seven Metro Districts have elected representatives from among their residents. And only a minority of directors on the CAB are Sterling Ranch residents. The CAB made an agreement with the Metro Districts back... Continue reading

  The structure in Sterling Ranch involves multiple players: the development company that oversees construction; the Metro Districts that (in name only) serve as local government; the Community Authority Board (CAB), which coordinates actions among all the Metro Districts and uses all the tax money from them; and Dominion Water and Sanitation District.

  
  

  Currently, only a few of the seven Metro Districts have elected representatives from among their residents. And only a minority of directors on the CAB are Sterling Ranch residents. The CAB made an agreement with the Metro Districts back before they had community representation to take all the tax money from them and make all the decisions about how to use that money. So residents have not had a say about how much debt is taken on that they will be on the hook to repay. Taxation without representation, anyone?

  
  

  The same names arise repeatedly among these entities. Harold and Diane Smethills are the cofounders of Sterling Ranch. Their son, Brock Smethills, currently is president of the Sterling Ranch Development Company. Harold and Diane are among the unelected, nonresident directors of the CAB. Harold and Brock both sit on the board of directors for Dominion Water, whose service area is exclusively in Sterling Ranch.

  
  

  Considering that the same family was able to start a development company, create Metro Districts that would be subordinate to a CAB that they and their appointed co-board members control indefinitely, make legal agreements between all those entities, take out loans as one entity and have another entity plan to repay them (essentially to themselves) with interest, and also enter into an agreement with a water company they helped found and run and whose fees they control—this seems like a really great deal for that family. For the residents of Sterling Ranch, though, not so much.

  
  

  We do not have the right to impactful dissent from any plans the CAB puts in place. When they take on debt we will have to repay, we have no say. When they tell us what a great deal our water is because it's cheaper than having Starbucks coffee run through our pipes, we have no say (even though it's much more expensive than water in Highlands Ranch, right next door). When they announce fee increases, we have no say.

  
  

  When they set rules for the community, we have no say. If the CAB's rule is that patio lights must be shut off by 10 p.m. (which seems like overreach, for people who don't live here to dictate when and how residents can use their own property), they get to hire people who will take photos of the back of someone's property to prove that those folks are in violation (talk about an invasion of privacy!). When they require low, see-through fences and simultaneously encourage residents to place trampolines in a spot where they can't be seen from other properties, they do not listen to how obviously absurd and contradictory those rules are. When they setup requirements that residents may not put up holiday décor until 30days prior to the relevant holiday and can fine us for doing so, but then they decorate outdoor public spaces with Christmas items prior to Thanksgiving, we residents don't get to fine them. If a majority of residents want to allow permanent “jellyfish” lighting but unelected members of the CAB think it looks tacky, then we have no say.

  
  

  When CAB folks fail to live up to their end of things, we have no recourse. When they advertise future amenities (always with an asterisk), and then fail to provide them, we have no recourse—even folks who paid a premium for land next to said future amenities. When they install (presumably more expensive) lampposts with the capacity to play emergency alerts, then they don't put any plans in place for someone to take charge of such alerts, and tornado warnings come along without any neighborhood alerts, we have no recourse. When they leave tall weeds in common areas, we have no recourse, though they could fine residents for similar violations.

  
  

  If I were on the task force, I would advocate to make sure residents had meaningful representation in determining the debt taken on in their name, the taxes levied on them, and the rules set for their community, much earlier in the process than “at buildout.” I'd also seriously question how ethical it is for a single group to speak for the development company, the metro districts before they have resident representation, the board that coordinates the metro districts, and utility companies that future residents will use. They might have “disclosed” conflicts of interest at meetings that no residents attended because not a single home had been built yet—and that seems like a farce.

  
  

  Thanks for considering the voices of your fellow citizens.
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  Sterling Ranch - It Sounds Criminal...

  by Atreides, over 2 years ago

  I live in Sterling Ranch (Littleton) and am part of a metro district. The metro district governance here is crazy enough that people usually find it unbelievable or assume it must be illegal. Sadly, it is both real and legal.
  
  Before anyone lived in Sterling Ranch, in 2013, our area developer set up an array of metro districts, removed their TABOR protections, then subordinated them all to a master Community Authority Board (CAB) in an intergovernmental agreement (IGA). That IGA has ludicrous conditions that give the developer indefinite control over all the metro districts - both their rules/covenants and their... Continue reading

  I live in Sterling Ranch (Littleton) and am part of a metro district. The metro district governance here is crazy enough that people usually find it unbelievable or assume it must be illegal. Sadly, it is both real and legal.
  
  Before anyone lived in Sterling Ranch, in 2013, our area developer set up an array of metro districts, removed their TABOR protections, then subordinated them all to a master Community Authority Board (CAB) in an intergovernmental agreement (IGA). That IGA has ludicrous conditions that give the developer indefinite control over all the metro districts - both their rules/covenants and their finances. This single-party "agreement" effectively revokes the metro districts' taxation and spending authority and delegates it to the CAB (which, again, the developer retains indefinite control of).
  
  People live in Sterling Ranch, now - there are over 2,000 homes constructed. Despite these new voters, the developer (via CAB) retains control over the area's taxation, spending, service providers, and rules/covenants despite never actually being elected by residents. Residents elect metro district boards, sure... but our metro district boards, because of the CAB "agreement" the developer entered into with himself, have no real governmental power. The district boards are advised by the developer's/CAB's attorney. The districts' rules are set by the developer's/CAB's family members. The districts' mill levies are dictated by the developer/CAB. The districts' tax revenue is used to build out new developments for the developer. AND the districts' water utility is owned by that same the developer!
  
  Simply put, the Sterling Ranch metro districts are legal avenues that a for-profit developer uses to privatize our community's tax revenue to underwrite that developer's businesses. As an aside, the developer gets to set the community's rather insane covenants - the people living here have no power to set the rules they live by! The developer played a clever game by subordinating the area metro districts to a CAB that the developer has indefinite control over. We, the residents, do not (and may never) elect the actual government (CAB).
  
  

  When I tell people that my local government (which levies taxes on its citizens) is indefinitely unelected, can legally self-deal, and is presided over by the owner of (of all things) the water utility and local land development company.... people look at me as if I'm a conspiratorial nutcase. But these things are all well-established and often written down in legal filings. I live in an authoritarian kelptocracy. It's nuts, it's happening, and it's legal. This directly contradicts the CO Bill of Rights Article 2:
  
  

  “All political power is vested in and derived from the people; all government, of right, originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.“

  Colorado Bill of Rights (Article II, Section 1)
  
  Residents in Master-Servant or CAB-like metro district systems live in patently authoritarian setups. It's unamerican and Colorado deserves better.
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  Drain The District!

  by CHofFHD, over 2 years ago
  

  
  

  I used to think it was bad enough that the Falcon Highlands Metro District was drowning us in debt, but then they started drowning us in actual water!

  I bought my home from the original builder in 2007. I had no idea when I purchased the home that our development was built in a high groundwater area, but apparently, it is. My lot specifically was not considered "at risk" due to the groundwater levels at the time, so we never had to sign a high groundwater disclosure. For 16 years we did not have one single drop of water in... Continue reading

  
  

  I used to think it was bad enough that the Falcon Highlands Metro District was drowning us in debt, but then they started drowning us in actual water!

  I bought my home from the original builder in 2007. I had no idea when I purchased the home that our development was built in a high groundwater area, but apparently, it is. My lot specifically was not considered "at risk" due to the groundwater levels at the time, so we never had to sign a high groundwater disclosure. For 16 years we did not have one single drop of water in our sump pump. Then in May 2023, the water started pouring in, and it hasn't stopped since.

  Our pump now runs at a rate of 25-30 gallons a minute, slightly less than my neighbor's house across the street, and slightly more than several of the other homes in the neighborhood. Long story short - engineers have concluded that we don't actually have a high groundwater problem - what we have is a clogged underdrain system beneath our ride-a-ways.

  Imagine my delight when I thought there was something that could be done to stop this! Simply call up the District, and ask them to clean out the line! Little did I know about the ridiculous debate that would ensue over the issue of responsibility, their disregard for our Community's welfare, or the various agendas that would take precedence.

  Six months, and three Board Meetings later, and they still haven't taken action.

  While homes continue to flood, Homeowners have been working to organize our community, file a Notice of Claim under the Government Immunity Act (Don't know what that is? Look it up - It's important!), and plan a Metro District Recall Election - which currently, is just about the only option available to Homeowners when a Metro District Board is behaving badly.

  Hopefully, this Task Force can offer another option to Homeowners who are being mistreated, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. Fingers crossed!

  Want More Details?

  Contact: CHofFalconHighlandsDev@Gmail.com

  Or check out the press coverage the Falcon Highlands Neighborhood has received recently:

  KRDO News Channel 13 Investigates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNOJcH2NC-k

  The New Falcon Herald, Nov. 2023 Issue (3 Separate Articles):

  - https://newfalconherald.com/groundwater-seepage-in-falcon-highlands

  - https://newfalconherald.com/residents-rally-to-save-their-homes/

  - https://newfalconherald.com/friends-of-falcon-2023-11/

  Upcoming Coverage - CS Indy Newspaper - Dec 1, 2023 Issue: https://www.csindy.com/

  
  
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  Why Metropolitan Districts?

  by rightisright, over 2 years ago
  Metro districts are out of control. They are a continued revenue stream for Managing Attorneys.

  Every Metro Dist. should have a sunset. Non negotiable.

  Metro District takes out a loan only to cover new utility construction, approved by district Zoning Director, to ensure compliance.

  Once the original loan has been paid off the Metro District is dissolved and original deeds handed over to the HOA.

  The Metro Dist board must consist of 50% of homeowners once build out is 50% complete.

  Once build-out is 75% complete the board consist of 90% of homeowners. Once 100% complete the HOA is handed... Continue reading

  Metro districts are out of control. They are a continued revenue stream for Managing Attorneys.

  Every Metro Dist. should have a sunset. Non negotiable.

  Metro District takes out a loan only to cover new utility construction, approved by district Zoning Director, to ensure compliance.

  Once the original loan has been paid off the Metro District is dissolved and original deeds handed over to the HOA.

  The Metro Dist board must consist of 50% of homeowners once build out is 50% complete.

  Once build-out is 75% complete the board consist of 90% of homeowners. Once 100% complete the HOA is handed over to homeowners in it's entirety.
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  President, Sunset Vista Estates HOA

  by COLG, over 2 years ago

  My story is that I am both the President of a self managed small (11 homes) HOA and an owner. I joined the board 10 years ago primarily to update our governing documents to make them enforceable. We became involved with DORA as soon as we learned of them. My experience thus far has been mixed. While I see great potential benefits as both an owner and a board member, my experience to date finds the process anti-HOA. While there are no doubt, aggressive and perhaps predatory HOA’s my goal with ours is to make it value additive to all... Continue reading

  My story is that I am both the President of a self managed small (11 homes) HOA and an owner. I joined the board 10 years ago primarily to update our governing documents to make them enforceable. We became involved with DORA as soon as we learned of them. My experience thus far has been mixed. While I see great potential benefits as both an owner and a board member, my experience to date finds the process anti-HOA. While there are no doubt, aggressive and perhaps predatory HOA’s my goal with ours is to make it value additive to all owners. Please help me accomplish this by offering opportunities to recognize good HOAs as well as the current anti HOA focus.
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  Damage done by service dogs

  by Jane, over 2 years ago
  We just had 2 tenants leave our new home after renting for year. Not only were they $20,000 behind in rent, considerable damage was done to the home by their service dogs. Three doors, the trim was scratched and chewed, and the carpet was chewed by the service dogs amounting in over $2,500.00 to replace. The home was left was their stuff and filthy.

  We just had 2 tenants leave our new home after renting for year. Not only were they $20,000 behind in rent, considerable damage was done to the home by their service dogs. Three doors, the trim was scratched and chewed, and the carpet was chewed by the service dogs amounting in over $2,500.00 to replace. The home was left was their stuff and filthy.