Columbine Knolls Grove Recreation Operating Levy

Columbine Knolls Grove Metropolitan Recreation District Issue 6D adds 2.6 mills to the district's current property-tax levy for operating, maintaining, repairing and improving district facilities. As an example, at 2.6 mills, $10,000 of taxable assessed value in the district owes $26 a year. The district, based in Littleton, runs two parks, two outdoor pools, eight tennis courts and a network of walking paths. Its transparency notice lists a current levy of 9.461 mills for operations.

If voters approve, collection begins in 2027. The question states up to $152,000 for that year "and by such additional amounts as may be generated annually thereafter." The $152,000 describes 2027 alone; after that, the question fixes the rate at 2.6 mills, not the dollars it raises. The question sets no end date.

The revenue from the added levy is an exception to all limits that may otherwise apply. The question names TABOR, section 29-1-301 of the Colorado Revised Statutes and "any other past, present or future law as authorized by prior ballot measures and this ballot measure."

The TABOR notice estimates 2027 fiscal year spending at $913,000 without the increase. The same notice lists fiscal year spending of $704,686 in 2022 and an estimated $884,375 in 2026, a change it states as 25.50%.

The district's 2026 budget projects $552,418 in property taxes out of $934,318 in total revenue, budgets $744,988 in expenses, $8,000 of it capital, and projects ending funds of $690,339. A parks assessment that 110%, Inc. prepared for the district in October 2025 estimated $2,000,000 in deferred maintenance, with only about $25,000 to $50,000 in unencumbered funds available each year.

The written case for 6D printed in the TABOR notice calls an additional 2.6 mills for ongoing operations, maintenance, repairs and improvements "reasonable and necessary," and argues that regular maintenance keeps "today's manageable problems" from becoming "much more expensive ones." The notice lists no comments against 6D filed by the constitutional deadline.

The district has also placed a bond question, Issue 6E, before the same voters: up to $6.6 million in general obligation bonds, with total repayment capped at $13.1 million, repaid by a separate property tax of up to $440,000 a year for a period not to exceed thirty years. Issue 6D's purpose includes repairing and improving district facilities, and 6E's stated purposes include district-wide deferred maintenance improvements. Voters decide each question separately, and approval of both authorizes both taxes.