What are the District's and City's Maintenance Obligations and what part does CliftonLarsonAllen play?
Colorado Special Districts are local governments, just as municipalities and counties are considered local governments. Often, municipalities and counties are limited by law and other factors as to the services they can provide to a given area. Special Districts may be formed to provide public services that the municipality or county cannot otherwise provide.
The Spring Mesa Metropolitan District (the District) was organized after Jefferson County approved a service plan and an organizational election was held in 1991. Following the election, an Order and Decree of Organization was given by the Jefferson County District Court. The District was initially organized with the name Eldorado Hills Metropolitan District, which was subsequently changed to Spring Mesa Metropolitan District in 2003 when the property within the District's boundaries was annexed into the City of Arvada (the City). Upon annexation, jurisdiction over the District shifted from Jefferson County to the City, and consequently an Amended and Restated Service Plan (the Service Plan) was approved by the City in 2003.
Pursuant to the Service Plan, the District has the authority to finance the construction and provision of public infrastructure needed for the Spring Mesa development. The developers caused the public infrastructure to be built within Spring Mesa, and sold the residential lots to DR Horton, which is the sole homebuilder in the community.
In addition to financing a portion of the public infrastructure, the District also provides ongoing operation and maintenance of certain landscape, ponds, open space and related improvements throughout Spring Mesa. The District engages consultants (e.g., legal, accounting, management company, landscape company) to provide administrative and operational services.
The City also has maintenance responsibilities within Spring Mesa including streets, certain common space areas, and the Spring Mesa Park on both sides of 77th Drive.
What are the District's and City's Maintenance Obligations and what part does CliftonLarsonAllen play?
Metro District: The District maintenance responsibilities include repair and maintenance (e.g., mowing, fertilizing, weed suppression, pruning, and snow removal on sidewalks immediately adjacent to Metro District's property, in addition to decorative ponds and detention pond maintenance and repair). A map of specific areas and frequency of maintenance is available for those that are interested in more detail. Please contact CliftonLarsonAllen to obtain a copy of this map.
City of Arvada: The City of Arvada has total responsibility for the Spring Mesa Park and the native areas adjacent to the District property that are owned by the City. This includes such areas as around Quaker Acres Park to 77th Drive and around Tucker Lake. In addition, the City maintains the Spring Mesa horse trails and area adjacent to the wide sidewalks within the neighborhood. The City has total control and responsibility for all streets and the pump house on 77th Drive. Arvada issues should be directed to the City of Arvada. Please contact the City directly at (720) 898-7000 or visit www.arvada.org.
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP ("CLA") Management: CLA provides District management and accounting services to the District. CLA is the primary and initial contact for all homeowner questions and issues. All issues received by CLA are communicated to the Board of Directors.
What is the District's Board of Directors?
The District is governed by a board of directors (the Board) comprised of property owners in the District. Directors are seated either by election or appointment to vacancies by existing Directors. Director terms of office are staggered. Two or three terms expire for which a Director election may be held. Director elections are held in May of every odd numbered year beginning in 2023.
A Director has a general, common law fiduciary obligation to the District, which does not extend to each individual resident, but rather to the District itself. As a fiduciary, the Director has the duty to exercise good faith business sense on behalf of the District.
Who are the current Directors?
The Board and their terms are listed here.
Metro District Accounting and Budget
Governmental accounting uses funds to account for different activities. Spring Mesa currently operates with two funds, a Debt Service Fund to account for the revenues and expenses related to the District's debt and a General Fund that accounts for all other activities of the District, specifically landscape maintenance, projects and administration.
Under state law, the annual budget for the upcoming year is presented to the Board of Directors by October 15. After notice of a public hearing is completed, the Board holds a public hearing and adopts the budget. If the District intends to impose a mill levy and collect property taxes, the budget must be approved by the Board and also be filed with the County by December 15th.
All Districts are required to file the budget annually with the State by January 31st of the year the budget represents.
Two key elements of the budget law are that (1) a District cannot budget to end the year with a deficit and (2) the District cannot exceed the amount it appropriated within a fund. Appropriation refers to the amounts budgeted to be expended. Thus, if the Board adopts a budget to spend $200,000 in the General Fund the Board cannot spend more than $200,000 unless the Board has available money and completes a budget amendment. The Board can always approve to amend a budget at a public hearing that has been properly noticed.
What Type of Taxes May the District Impose?
Property taxes are collected based on the assessed valuation of the property, multiplied by the mill levy imposed by the taxing entity. In the case of Spring Mesa, Jefferson County determines the assessed value of all property. Residential property is currently assessed at 7.15% of actual value. Commercial property and unfinished residential lots are assessed at 29% of value. The Jefferson County Treasurer collects all taxes and remits them to the various districts within the county monthly. The Treasurer retains 1.5% of the taxes collected as their fee. Currently the District imposes a total mill levy of 43.555 mills. 24.500 mills are paid into the Debt Service Fund as they are pledged for the repayment of the District’s Bonds. The remaining 19.055 mills is paid to the General Fund and is used to operate and maintain the District’s infrastructure. The District also receives a proportionate share of the taxes on motor vehicles registered in Jefferson County. These taxes are allocated based on property tax revenues to all taxing districts within the County and are called specific ownership taxes or S.O. taxes.
What Financial Limitations are Imposed Upon the District?
The Service Plan limits the debt that may be issued ($10,500,000) by the District (the Debit Limit). All bonds issued by the District are governed by controls adopted by the Colorado Legislature governing the process by which bonds are issued by special districts. In addition, the Service Plan limits the total mill levy which may be assessed by the District to an aggregate 30 mills for debt service and operations, but said amount is subject to automatic adjustment to account for changes in laws of the State with respect to the assessment of property for taxation purposes, the ratio for determining assessed valuation changes, or other similar matters. This will maintain a relatively constant tax bill from the District. Thus, an increase in the mill cap alone neither decreases nor increases the tax liability of the individual property owners. The residential assessment ratio is currently 7.15% of actual value, and the adjusted mill levy cap is now 43.555 mills, which is the current mill levy. The limited mill levy is assessed uniformly on each home and other taxable property in the District regardless of the number of taxable structures. Barring future residential assessment ratio changes, the only other way to increase the mill levy cap is for the District to seek an amendment to its Service Plan, which would require the Arvada City Council’s approval after a public hearing.
Is the HOA Different from the Metro District?
Yes, the Metro District and the HOA are two distinct and separate organizations. Each has unique responsibilities to the neighborhood and the residents, and have separate Board of Directors. The HOA generally has responsibility for reviewing landscape plans for the homes, enforcing restrictive covenants in the community and the pick-up of homeowner garbage/trash weekly. The HOA is a private entity that does not have the power to issue debt and impose property taxes.
Physical Aspects of Spring Mesa:
305 acres - 272 homeowner lots
Approximately 175 acres Metro District Area
Approximately 130 acres homeowner lots
First homes completed mid 2006; approximately 261 homes closed as of May 21, 2014
Meetings: Metro District Meetings are scheduled annually. The District requires a quorum of Directors to be present to hold a meeting. Special Meetings may be called and will be posted appropriately.
All meeting notices are posted at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. The official posting location is on the website at springmesa.org/meeting-notice. All meetings are open to the public. Official action of the Board may be taken through the adoption of a resolution or by a motion duly made and passed by a majority of the Directors present at the meeting.
Meeting minutes and other public documents are available for inspection and many can be found on the Documents page.
Homeowner Rights: A homeowner has the right to inspect public records, the right to seek election to a director seat in May of odd years, the right to have the District operate within the Service Plan and State statute, and the right to raise issues to the Board.
The Spring Mesa HOA
For information regarding the HOA, please contact:
Advance HOA Management, Inc.
303-482-2213
clientservices@advancehoa.com