General Information About the District

 
The Laredo Metropolitan District (District), a quasi-municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State of Colorado, was organized by order and decree of the District Court for Adams County on May 15, 2002, and is governed pursuant to provisions of the Colorado Special District Act (Title 32, Article 1, Colorado Revised Statutes). The District operates under a service plan approved by Commerce City (the City) in April 2002. The District’s service area boundaries solely encompass the Outlook neighborhood (the legal name of which is the the Village Subdivision--see map to the right), which is comprised of 361 single family homes, 114 condominiums and 17 acres of commercial property.

In 2003, the District issued $4.7 million in bonds to finance the construction and development of the Outlook neighborhood infrastructure (e.g. streets, curbs, sidewalks, water and electric lines, sewer lines, storm drainage, detention pond, perimeter fencing, park and open space landscaping, etc). The completed infrastructure assets were turned over to Commerce City (e.g. streets) and the respective utility companies (e.g. water and sewer lines turned over to South Adams County Water & Sanitation District, street lights and power lines were turned over to United Power, etc). Ownership of the open spaces, park, detention pond and perimeter fencing were turned over to the Outlook HOA to maintain.
 

District Revenue Sources

In order to fund the repayment of its bond debt and provide neighborhood services to the Outlook residents, the District generates revenue from the following sources:

Property Taxes: Each year, the District assesses property taxes on the homeowners living within the Outlook neighborhood. Property tax assessments is the District's primary source of revenue and currently comprises approximately 92% of the District's total annual revenue. In May 2002, voters approved the District's ballot issue, which authorized the District to change the mill levy rate each year without obtaining further approval from the voters. However, the District is restricted from generating annual property tax revenue in excess of $50,000 to fund operations.

 
State Tax Subsidies: Each year, the District receives a "specific ownership tax" subsidy from the State of Colorado. The State funds this subsidy from its collection of annual vehicle registration fee taxes paid by owners of Colorado-registered vehicles. The subsidy is paid out in the form of a matching contribution to the District and is calculated as a percentage of the total property taxes assessed by the District. The State establishes the rate each year for matching contributions. A historic trend of the matching rates set by the State is provided in Exhibit 1.

For the past few years, this subsidy has comprised approximately 8% of the District's total annual revenue.

Interest Income: State laws restrict the types of funds in which the District may invest its cash.  For the past several years, the District's investment income has been an insignificant source of revenue to the District due to the decline in interest rates paid by banks on savings accounts and certain low-risk money market funds.

District Contractors

Click here to lean more about the District's contractors.

Bond Debt

Click here to learn more about the District's bond debt.