Property tax increaseDistrict mill levy with an inflation-plus-growth escalator
Authorizes $105,000 in additional district property-tax revenue for 2027, adjusted thereafter for inflation and local growth, to fund operations, amenities and maintenance.
The Hills at Cherry Creek Metropolitan District
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on the Hills at Cherry Creek Metropolitan District ballot issue 6A
Issue 6A places a second operating tax on top of the $127,000 ceiling that district voters set. The constitution uses inflation plus local growth to limit how fast a district's property tax revenue can grow. This question uses the same formula to raise the new tax every year and then exempts the new revenue from the limit.
The question names a brick wall, courts, landscaping and fencing but sets no dollar amount for any of them and no end date for the tax. It also lets the district spend part of a permanent, rising increase on expenses the question calls unforeseen. I oppose that increase.
I recommend a no vote on the Hills at Cherry Creek Metropolitan District ballot issue 6A.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL THE HILLS AT CHERRY CREEK METROPOLITAN DISTRICT TAXES BE INCREASED $105,000 ANNUALLY FOR COLLECTION BEGINNING IN 2027, AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER BY AN ADDITIONAL PERCENTAGE EQUAL TO INFLATION PLUS ANNUAL LOCAL GROWTH AS DEFINED IN ART. X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION, TO BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAYING THE DISTRICT'S OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE AND OTHER EXPENSES WHICH MAY INCLUDE: MAINTAINING AND REPAIRING VALUABLE COMMUNITY AMENITIES, INCLUDING THE BRICK PERIMETER WALL, PLAYGROUND, PARK, TENNIS, PICKLEBALL, AND BASKETBALL COURTS; CONTINUING TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY RECREATION SPACE; BEAUTIFYING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN, FENCING, AND MONUMENTATION; PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF UNFORESEEN EXPENSES AND BUDGET CONTINGENCY FOR MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIRS; AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE AUTHORIZED TO LEVY A PROPERTY TAX AT A RATE SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE THIS REVENUE INCREASE, COMMENCING WITH TAXES PAYABLE IN 2027 AND CONTINUING EACH YEAR THEREAFTER (EXPECTED TO BE AN ADDITIONAL 3.688 MILLS AND TO RESULT IN A MONTHLY TAX INCREASE OF $20.90 FOR A RESIDENCE WORTH $1,000,000 IN 2027); AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE ENTITLED TO COLLECT, RETAIN AND SPEND THOSE REVENUES IN ADDITION TO ANY OTHER TAXES, FEES OR OTHER REVENUES OF THE DISTRICT AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LIMITATION OR RESTRICTION OF ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION, OR WITHOUT REGARD TO THE 5.5% PROPERTY TAX REVENUE LIMITATION OF SECTION 29-1-301, C.R.S. OR ANY OTHER LAW?
A yes vote means
Approves the added property-tax revenue, its annual inflation-and-local-growth adjustment and the stated revenue-limit waivers.
A no vote means
Rejects the increase and its annual escalator.
A Subdivision Service District01
The Hills at Cherry Creek Metropolitan District is a local government serving the Hills at Cherry Creek subdivision in Arapahoe County. It lists its current services as landscape maintenance, lighting, irrigation and tennis maintenance. The district's existing voter authorization caps its operating levy at $127,000 a year.
The 2026 adopted budget sets $126,997 in operating property tax at 4.605 mills. It plans $168,344 in general fund spending, including $40,000 for landscape maintenance, $30,000 for utilities, $10,000 for repairs and maintenance and a $17,233 contingency, and it projects an ending fund balance of zero. The budget estimates that in 2025 the district spent $158,101 against $135,124 in revenue, lowering its fund balance from $56,153 to $33,176. A separate levy of 3.885 mills repays a 2015 loan, for a total district levy of 8.490 mills in the 2026 budget.
An Increase Tied to Inflation and Growth02
Issue 6A raises district taxes by $105,000 a year, starting with taxes collected in 2027. Each later year, that amount rises by a percentage equal to inflation plus annual local growth, as the Colorado Constitution defines them. The same formula sets the constitution's yearly limit on a district's property tax revenue. For a district that is not a school district, local growth is the net percentage change in the actual value of all real property in the district from construction of taxable improvements, minus destruction of similar improvements, plus additions to and minus deletions from taxable real property. The increase never expires.
The board levies whatever mill rate produces the increase. The ballot estimates 3.688 added mills, or $20.90 a month for a residence worth $1,000,000, in 2027.
Annual property tax increase
The question expects an additional 3.688 mills: $3.69 a year for every $1,000 of taxable assessed value.
Example at $100,000 taxable assessed value
$100,000 × 3.688 ÷ 1,000 = $368.80
Taxable assessed value is not a home's market value. For 2026 it is about 6% to 7% of the actual value the county assessor sets. A home with an actual value of $500,000 has an assessed value of about $30,600 for local government taxes and $35,250 for school district taxes.
The rate is the question's own expectation. The district may levy whatever rate produces $105,000 for collection in 2027, rising each year by inflation plus annual local growth, so the actual rate may differ. This is the added tax, not the total property tax bill.
Estimated annual increase
Enter a value of zero or more, with no more than two decimal places.
Arapahoe County ballot, The Hills at Cherry Creek Metropolitan District ballot issue 6A
Planned Uses of the Money03
The money pays for the district's operations, maintenance and other expenses. The question lists what those may include: maintaining and repairing the brick perimeter wall, the playground, the park and the tennis, pickleball and basketball courts; continuing to provide recreation space; beautifying the community through landscape design, fencing and monumentation; management of unforeseen expenses; and a budget contingency for major infrastructure repairs. The list gives examples and sets no dollar amount for any of them.
Outside the Revenue Limits04
A yes vote lets the district collect, keep and spend the added revenue on top of its other taxes, fees and revenues, regardless of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, the state's 5.5% property tax revenue limit or any other law. A no vote leaves the operating levy under its $127,000 cap.
