Commerce City citizens mull metro districts at City Hall

A mini-summit hosted at City Hall late last week on the role and future of much-debated special districts drew mixed input, some interested residents and a few City Council members. The consensus of those who participated seemed to be that they want the conversation to continue.

The webinar, facilitated by city staffer John Bourjaily,  was billed as an opportunity for City Hall to receive feedback from residents about how to fund growth, particularly through special districts, which vary in their structure. 

Attendee Blaine Hawkins said “charting a path towards home ownership” is made more viable through metro districts.

“As I understand, the goal of metro districts is to provide really early, low-cost borrowing,” said Hawkins. Increasing the supply of homes through utilizing metro districts can lower the cost of home ownership, he said.

The benefits of metro districts require accountability and transparency, noted attendee Michael Lund. “Metro districts can be a good tool, but they do need proper oversight.”

Some participants, however, said they felt swamped by their metro district taxes which, for some, were approaching 50% of their annual tax bill.

“I think that increase is a little on the outrageous side,” said David Sanchez, the current president of the North Range Metro District No. 2. Sanchez wants the city to have more control over the districts.

Sanchez’s North Range Metro District No. 2 voted to default on its agreements to pay Reunion Metro District for its portion of costs to finance, operate and maintain infrastructure and improvements in Reunion, leading to a protracted lawsuit. In 2023, a judge granted injunctive relief to Reunion Metro District, appointing a receiver and requiring North Range Metro District No. 2 to abide by those agreementс and restart those payments.

Other residents said they felt duped because when they bought their homes, they were told the metro district taxes would go away after 20 years. That has not been the case, they said. They asked for more accountability and oversight from the city. 

Some were disappointed that they did not get the information they were looking for out of the gathering, and they wanted more. 

“I hope we can continue this conversation. I hope we can do this again, and next time, do a little better than what we’ve done tonight” said council member Kristi Douglas. Her thoughts were echoed by both Mayor Steven Douglas and council member Susan Noble. 

“This issue is important to the City Council,” said Noble, adding that she was expecting to hear about alternatives to the districts during the webinar but “those options didn’t materialize.”

The council will be given a more comprehensive overview of metro districts and alternative special district options at a study session on Feb. 26.