FAQ
The Horse Mountain Ranch Metropolitan District (“District”) is a governmental entity and political subdivision of the State of Colorado, designed to serve as a perpetual quasi-municipal corporation operating with a resident elected five-person Board of Directors. The primary purpose of the District is to finance operations required by Horse Mountain Ranch development and to provide an ongoing institutional structure for the operation and maintenance of signage and roads.
The primary benefits of utilizing a Colorado Special District rather than a homeowner association are:
- Minimization of overhead costs, due to a single District management entity;
- Limited liability through the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act; and
- The ability to use, among other sources of revenue, the power of taxation to collect the cost of service and development enhancements on an equitable basis, through income tax deductible means
The Service Plan for the District provides the District with the ability to provide services needed within the Horse Mountain Ranch Metropolitan District. It also authorizes the District to provide for ongoing operations and maintenance of signage and roads. The District’s Board of Directors may provide homeowners’ association functions permissible under Colorado law which eliminates the necessity of a separate homeowners’ association and a separate homeowners’ association fees.
The District’s mill levy is included in the annual Eagle County Property Tax Bill to each homeowner. Each property is assessed based on the following formula:
- Actual Property Value multiplied by 7.15% (assessment rate) = Assessed Value
- Property tax: Assessed value/ divide by 1,000 (mill levy applies to every $1,000 in value) x mill levy = annual property tax.
The assessment rate may change every other year and is set by the state legislature in accordance with certain constitutional requirements.