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General Information About the District

Richards Farm Metropolitan District (District), a quasi-municipal corporation, was organized on September 03, 2015, and is governed pursuant to provisions of the Colorado Special District Act (Title 32). The District operates under a service plan approved by the City of Arvada (City) on April 06, 2015. The District's service area is located in Adams County, Colorado entirely within the boundaries of the City. The District was established to provide financing for the design, acquisition, construction and installation of streets, street lighting, landscaping, storm drainage, and other public improvements and facilities within the District.

The land within the District is fully developed and the District’s service are is comprised of 125 single family homes. All open spaces within the District’s boundaries are owned and maintained by the District.

In 2015 and 2019, the District issued a total of $3.8 million in bonds to finance the construction and development of the Richards Farm neighborhood public infrastructure. The completed infrastructure assets were turned over to the City of Arvada (e.g. streets, water and sewer lines) and the respective utility companies (e.g. street lights and power lines were turned over to Xcel Energy, etc). The District retained ownership and maintenance responsibilities for of the open spaces, detention pond, perimeter fencing and entryway monument sign.

DISTRICT REVENUE SOURCES

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

Property Taxes: Each year, the District assesses property taxes on the homeowners living within the Richards Farm 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 November 2013, the land developer 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 $5 million per year 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 7% 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.