What Is a Metro District, and How Much Will It Add to My Property Taxes?
By Jeff and Lane Morrell · October 2026
The Morrell Group | eXp Realty
A metro district is a Colorado special district that builds and maintains streets, parks, lighting, and other infrastructure in a new community, and pays for it with a property-tax mill levy on top of your county and city taxes. Depending on the district, that can add a meaningful chunk to the annual tax bill, so it must be factored into the true cost of a home.
How metro district taxes work
The formula is the same one used for every Colorado property tax bill: actual value times the assessment rate times the mill levy. For 2026, Colorado residential assessment rates are 7.05% for school levies and 6.8% for local levies, with a 10% reduction of the first $700,000 of value applied to local levies only.
A metro district is a local government, so its levy uses the local rate, not the school rate. The district layer sits on top of your county and city taxes, which is why two similar homes in different communities can carry very different total bills. Metro districts are special districts created under the Colorado Special District Act, Title 32 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.
What it can add
It adds up faster than most buyers expect. For 2026, a $550,000 home in a district with 50 metro district mills pays roughly $1,683 a year to the district, about a 46% jump on top of the county and city tax bill (worked example published September 2026, thedavidsilva.com).
There are real limits. Colorado law caps a district debt-service mill levy at 50 mills and its operating levy at 20 mills (Metro District Education Coalition). But a district at or near those caps still adds a large line to your yearly bill, on top of the mortgage payment, county and city taxes, and insurance.
The Flying Horse example
Flying Horse, a master-planned community in northern Colorado Springs, shows how real this is. Homeowners there pay roughly 40% of their property tax bill to the district to cover public infrastructure, and the district has carried tens of millions in bond debt funded through those levies (Colorado Springs Gazette, October 2023; Flying Horse Metro District disclosures).
To be plain about it: not every new community in Colorado Springs is a metro district, and the districts that do exist vary sharply in levies and debt. Some are modest, and some add a serious number to the annual bill. Buyers should always ask, before the offer, exactly what the district on the property adds.
Sources and how to confirm your own numbers
Worked example of a $550,000 home in a 50-mill metro district: thedavidsilva.com, published September 2026. Mill-levy caps: Colorado law caps district debt-service levies at 50 mills and operating levies at 20 mills (Metro District Education Coalition). Flying Horse share of the tax bill and bond debt: Colorado Springs Gazette, October 2023, and Flying Horse Metro District disclosures. 2026 assessment rates: 7.05% for school levies and 6.8% for local levies, with a 10% reduction of the first $700,000 of value on local levies; metro districts are special districts under the Colorado Special District Act, Title 32.
Every district is different, and current mill levies should always be confirmed with the El Paso County Assessor and the district disclosure documents before you make an offer.
Questions to ask before you buy
- What is the total mill levy, including all districts on the property?
- How much of the levy is debt service, and for how many years?
- Are there additional fees, taxes, tolls, or charges?
- Can the levy increase over time?
- Is the district board controlled by the developer?
Metro districts are common in newer Colorado Springs communities, and they are not automatically a bad deal. They pay for the streets and parks you will use every day. But you should know the number before you make an offer, because the district bill is real and it is separate from your mortgage. We pull the actual district mill levies and debt for every new-construction buyer we work with, so there are no surprises at closing or on the first tax bill. Text us at 719-499-9394 and we will run the numbers for the neighborhood you are looking at.
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