Central Colorado Water Bonds for Water Rights and Storage
BorrowingWater projects financed with bonds and property taxes
Authorizes up to $250 million in water-project debt, up to $470 million in repayment and up to $18.7 million in additional annual property taxes.
Central Colorado Water Conservancy District
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Central Colorado Water Conservancy District ballot issue 7B
Issue 7B caps the new property tax at 3 mills a year, except as section 37-45-126 of the Colorado Revised Statutes permits. When the district's levies and other revenues fall short of a bond payment, that section directs the board to levy additional taxes. The added levy on all district property may not exceed one-half mill in a year, and these levies may not carry more than 25% of all anticipated revenues for paying existing defaults and deficiencies. The statute directs these levies to continue until the district's indebtedness is fully paid, subject to those limits. The same question lets the district pledge any of its other revenues to the bonds. The board sets the bond terms, and the question sets no final repayment year.
I oppose authorizing up to $250 million in new district debt, carried by a property tax whose 3-mill cap the district may exceed by up to one-half mill a year whenever its revenue falls short of a bond payment.
I recommend a no vote on Central Colorado Water Conservancy District ballot issue 7B.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL THE CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT DEBT BE INCREASED UP TO $250 MILLION, WITH A MAXIMUM REPAYMENT COST OF UP TO $470 MILLION, AND SHALL DISTRICT TAXES BE INCREASED UP TO $18.7 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING, ACQUIRING AND MANAGING RELIABLE WATER RESOURCES THROUGH DEBT FINANCING TO: · LESSEN DROUGHT IMPACT AND INCREASE WATER SUPPLIES NECESSARY TO SUPPORT AND MAINTAIN FAMILY FARMS AND AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF WATER PROJECTS TO CAPTURE WATER DURING TIMES OF HIGH SUPPLY FOR USE DURING TIMES OF NEED; · PREVENT LOCAL FARM AND RANCH DRY-UPS AND KEEP WATER IN ADAMS, MORGAN AND WELD COUNTIES THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF SENIOR WATER RIGHTS; AND · ACQUIRE, CONSTRUCT AND IMPROVE LONG-TERM WATER STORAGE RESERVOIRS AND OTHER FACILITIES TO MORE EFFICIENTLY STORE AND DELIVER WATER AVAILABLE TO THE DISTRICT; SUCH DEBT TO CONSIST OF THE ISSUANCE AND PAYMENT OF BONDS OR SIMILAR LIMITED TAX OBLIGATIONS, WHICH DEBT SHALL BEAR INTEREST AT A MAXIMUM NET EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE NOT TO EXCEED 6.0% PER ANNUM AND SHALL BE DATED AND SOLD AT SUCH TIME OR TIMES, AT SUCH PRICES (AT, ABOVE OR BELOW PAR) AND IN SUCH MANNER AND CONTAINING SUCH TERMS, NOT INCONSISTENT HEREWITH, AS THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MAY DETERMINE; SHALL AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAXES BE LEVIED IN ANY YEAR AT A LIMITED MILL LEVY RATE NOT TO EXCEED 3 MILLS, EXCEPT AS PERMITTED IN SECTION 37-45-126 OF THE COLORADO REVISED STATUTES, AND IN SUCH AMOUNTS AS SET FORTH ABOVE AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE AUTHORIZED TO ENCUMBER AND PLEDGE ANY OTHER REVENUES OF THE DISTRICT TO BE USED TO PAY THE PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON SUCH BONDS AS THE SAME BECOME DUE AND TO FUND ANY RESERVES FOR THE PAYMENT THEREOF; AND SHALL ANY INVESTMENT EARNINGS (REGARDLESS OF AMOUNT) FROM SUCH TAX REVENUES AND FROM THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH BONDS CONSTITUTE A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE?
A yes vote means
Authorizes the water-project debt and its repayment taxes, with a three-mill limit subject to the stated statutory exception and authority to pledge other district revenue.
A no vote means
Rejects this borrowing and its associated property-tax increase.
Buying Water and Building Reservoirs01
Issue 7B lets the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District borrow up to $250 million, at a repayment cost of no more than $470 million, and raise property taxes by up to $18.7 million a year to repay it. The question names three uses: projects that capture water in times of high supply for use in times of need, buying senior water rights to keep water in Adams, Morgan and Weld counties and prevent farm and ranch dry-ups, and new or improved storage reservoirs and delivery facilities.
The district's TABOR election notice puts its current bonded debt at $30,055,436 in principal and its estimated 2027 spending at $10,128,384 without the new tax.
Borrowing and repayment limits
Limit
Amount
New borrowing
Up to $250 million
Total repayment
Up to $470 million
Annual tax increase
Up to $18.7 million
Mill levy limit
3 mills (except as C.R.S. 37-45-126 permits)
Maximum net effective interest rate
6.0% a year
Weld County ballot, Central Colorado Water Conservancy District ballot issue 7B; also on the Adams County ballot
What Backs the Repayment02
The new property tax may not exceed 3 mills in any year, "except as permitted in section 37-45-126" of the Colorado Revised Statutes. When the district's levies and other revenues fall short of a bond payment, that statute directs the board to levy additional taxes and to continue them until the debt is fully paid. For a tax levied on all property in the district, as the 7B property tax is, the added levy may not exceed one-half mill in any year, and that tax may carry no more than 25% of the revenue anticipated from all sources to cover a shortfall. The question also lets the district pledge any of its other revenues to principal, interest and reserves.
The board decides when to sell the bonds and sets their prices and terms, subject to a maximum net effective interest rate of 6.0% per year. The question sets no final repayment year. Investment earnings on the tax revenue and bond proceeds count as a voter-approved revenue change, so the district keeps them.
Campaign Cites Drought and Growth03
Yes for Water, the committee campaigning for 7B and 7C, says that drought, population growth and Denver-area demand make farm water harder and costlier to secure, and that water rights sold and permanently transferred elsewhere cost the region farmland and jobs. It puts the cost at about $84 a year for a $500,000 home and says oil and gas produce about 70% of the district's property tax revenue, reducing the share local homeowners carry. The TABOR notice says no comments against 7B were filed by the constitutional deadline.
Separate From the Subdistrict Levy04
Issue 7C, a separate question, comes from the district's Groundwater Management Subdistrict. It asks for $1.5 million in added subdistrict taxes in 2027, rising with inflation after that, for capital and operational purposes. Yes for Water presents 7B as the money for water rights and new storage, and 7C as money to operate and maintain the subdistrict's reservoirs, recharge projects and delivery facilities. Voters decide the two separately, and the 7C tax falls only on property in the subdistrict.
Campaign support and opposition05
For
Yes for WaterContributions $30,550 · Expenditures $10,828
Central Colorado Water Conservancy District 2026 budget showing its 0.100-mill special election levy, which the budget ties to the district's 2014 election.
Colorado Secretary of State committee registration stating YES FOR WATER advocates for approval of the 2026 bond and groundwater management subdistrict operating levy questions.
