Greeley City Council votes to approve a plan for eight new metro districts. That’s a big deal. Here’s what it means.

By Kelly Ragan

Greeley could soon see a massive housing and commercial project that could eventually be home to 7,000 residents north of 10th Street and west of 83rd Avenue. 

The plan, presented at a city council meeting Tuesday, is set to establish eight new metropolitan districts that would pay for the things those residents would need, such as water lines, as well as maintenance. . 

City council approved the plans in a 6-1 vote Tuesday, with councilmember Tommy Butler the lone no-vote. 

What the heck is a metro district?

A metro district is basically a type of local government that can levy taxes. 

Let’s back up to the 1970s and 1980s when metro districts became populated. Back then, local governments were responsible for constructing all the major infrastructure around, such as roads, parks, fire protection and more. Everyone in the community shared that cost, whether or not they would ever benefit from or be able to use the new amenities built across town. 

As metro districts caught on, they became a common way for new developments to provide services, such as new fire stations, parks and recreation, sanitation, street improvements and water.

According to the Colorado Association of Home Builders, metro districts are the “best available option to support public improvements in the new housing community developments needed to meet the affordable housing challenge in Colorado.” 

If the cost of the infrastructure was instead passed off of the homebuyer, the association argues many folks would be priced out of the market. 

The idea is to spread those costs out over time and have homeowners pay back the costs through property tax payments, with those benefiting from the new services paying for them. 

Opponents argue that members of the Metro District Boards, who oversee how the tax money is spent, often work with or have ties to the developer, which creates a conflict of interest. 

Colorado now requires homebuyers to be told about special districts so people are more aware of what they’re getting into if they buy in a new metro district. 

There’s also a cap on how many mills can go into debt services. That cap is 77 mills in Colorado and 70 in Greeley. 

To calculate out how much someone might pay in metro district fees, you can use this formula: 

(Market value of property) X (Assessment Rate) X (Mill Levy) = Property tax

So, what’s the plan?

The development proposed by The Cache LLC, with Ed Orr and Sarah Woodland at the helm, is still in the early stages and could change, but here’s what we know so far. 

The plan is to initially develop 332 acres of land that would grow to 714 acres as more land is annexed.

That would include a total of 3,705 residential units, most of them being single-family. When all is said and done, about 7,000 people would be able to call the area home. 

There would also be about 30,000 square feet of commercial property available. Developers also plan to set aside about 240 acres for parks, open space and recreational facilities. 

Todd Johnson, of Terra Forma Solutions, spoke at the city council meeting representing the project. 

“If a metro district was not in place,” Johnson said, “the cost would be pushed onto the homeowner with the home price, which only exacerbates the affordability issue.”

The project is estimated to cost about $199 million, Johnson said, though the service plans presented to council would allow up to $200 million in bonded debt. 

The plans also asked for 70 mills – Greeley’s maximum – but Johnson said he didn’t anticipate it would come to that.

They actually ran the models with 50 mills, he said, but they want the flexibility to address any changes that come with market conditions. 

The plan also called for a 40-year cap to collect taxes, which is the maximum. 

“We think it will probably take anywhere from 15-20 years,” Johnson said. 

Ultimately, he said, it will depend on the amenities that are included in the final plans to compete with other metro districts in the area, such as Water Valley and Rain Dance.  

“We want the maximum flexibility that’s possible,” Johnson said.

What do we mean when we talk about affordability? 

Plans haven’t yet been finalized, so we don’t yet know exactly what this will look like, but one of the key themes discussed Tuesday (and really, one of the main drivers for establishing metro districts) is affordability. 

That said, Johnson said most of the units in this project will be priced as lower to mid-range. 

“We probably have 50% of our numbers in that lower range,” Johnson said. “That’s anywhere from apartments to townhomes, and higher density, and single-family houses.”

About 5-10% of the housing will be in the upper range, Johnson said. 

So, what kind of price tag are we talking? 

Johnson said the more affordable, higher density housing will range between $200-300K and will likely be closer to 10th Street, with lower density properties built north. 

“With current home prices, I think we are still on the affordable end for the workforce,” Johnson said. 

After questioning from councilmember Butler, Johnson said about 10-20% of the housing would be under $250K, and they would likely be in mixed use areas, which would include the apartments and townhomes. 

As the vote came up, Butler noted that he didn’t think the plan did enough to address the affordable housing issue. 

“I would like to see more affordable housing,” Butler said. “I can’t put forward a special taxing district if it won’t put forward affordable housing.”

Still, the plan passed 6-1. 

Next steps 

Now that city council has approved the plan, six people will get to vote on it in November. 

The eligible voters include (since no one yet lives in the district), Ed Orr and his spouse, Sarah Woodland and her spouse, and Todd Johnson and his spouse (a.k.a the project’s developers). 

We’re going to go out on a limb and say the plan will pass in November, but stay tuned in case someone goes rouge.