Buy a home in one of Aurora's newer master-planned communities and the seller has to hand you a dollar figure. Since August 6, 2025, Colorado's HB25-1219 has required sellers of homes inside a metropolitan district to estimate the district's property tax for collection in the year of sale. They also have to give buyers access to the district's service plan, along with a written statement that some district actions may raise residents' costs. That's real progress for buyers. But the estimate covers one year. In many of these districts, the debt behind the figure was designed to get more expensive every year.
The fuller picture sits in the bond schedule and the annual budget. Both are public. Both say more about your future tax bill than the disclosure does. And right now, one assumption baked into many of these schedules is being tested by a market that has gone flat.
The Disclosure Gives You One Year of a Schedule That Keeps Climbing
Southshore Metro District in southeast Aurora explains its debt more openly than most districts, which makes it the clearest example to learn from. Its 2020 general obligation bonds paid off earlier debt and funded the Lighthouse, roads and landscaping. Voters approved them in May 2018, 270 to 70. The district describes the design in plain terms:
"In 2020, Southshore was only about half built out, limiting its tax base. To minimize the financial impact on property owners, D.A. Davidson structured the Southshore Metro District Bonds to gradually increase debt principal payments, giving home builders more time to complete their projects."
The schedule shows up in the budgets. Principal on the Series 2020 A-1 and 2020 B bonds was $1,445,000 in 2024 and an estimated $1,665,000 in 2025, with $1,890,000 budgeted for 2026. The district says the 2026 principal payment is more than 13% higher than the year before. By 2032 the annual redemption will be $610,000 larger again, a 32% increase over 2026. The bonds mature in 2046.
Homeowners feel this through the debt service mill levy:
- 2024: 18.826 mills
- 2025: 30.620 mills
- 2026 budget, adopted November 18, 2025: 32.570 mills
Part of the jump from 2024 to 2025 was the district undoing a temporary cut. From 2023 it had lowered the debt levy to spend down extra cash and avoid federal arbitrage penalties. 2025 was the first year since 2022 that the levy lined up with the required payments. Still, a buyer who looked at a 2024 tax bill would have seen a debt levy about 42% lower than what the district budgeted for 2026.
The total levy has moved less: 69.132 mills in 2024, 61.646 in 2025, 64.068 for 2026. The 2026 operating levy is 51.182 mills before a cut the budget labels a "temporary mill levy rate reduction" of 19.684 mills, which leaves 31.498. The budget lists a maximum of 66.007 mills for 2026 under the district's 2002 Service Plan with the City of Aurora. That means the steady total you see today rests on two things: an operating discount the district calls temporary, and a debt line that keeps going up.
The Plan Counts on Home Values Rising, and Metro Prices Have Been Flat
A bond schedule that grows each year works as long as the tax base grows faster. Southshore says so directly. Because Arapahoe County reassesses every two years, D.A. Davidson's bond agreement assumes home values rise 2% per cycle. The district also ran a more cautious scenario at 1% per cycle and found that value growth still outpaced the larger redemptions.
So far, it has worked out. The district says values rose much faster than forecast, which kept the debt levy 14% below the original projection. Moody's confirmed the bonds' Baa1 rating on February 9, 2026, and the district reports every payment made in full and on time. This is a district on solid footing. The question is where future growth in the tax base comes from.
For years, part of the answer was construction. Southshore's certified assessed value rose from $102.9 million in the 2025 budget to $108.0 million in the 2026 budget. But the district also says the last new homes sold in 2025. With build-out finished, new rooftops stop adding to the base. From here, growth has to come from appreciation.
That puts the focus on the next reassessment. Current tax bills in Arapahoe County still use an appraisal date of June 30, 2024. The Assessor's July 2026 newsletter says state law doesn't let assessors use current sales or market conditions. The same newsletter describes the county market as having "cooled a bit due to higher home interest rates and a surplus of listings creating a buyers type market."
Metro-wide figures from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors show what that looks like. In its September 2026 report, released October 3, 2026, the year-to-date median close price for detached homes was $650,000, the same as each of the previous two years. These numbers cover the whole Denver metro, not Aurora alone. Still, they don't point to a big jump in values for the 2027 reassessment.
If values come in flat, a growing principal payment divided by an unchanged assessed value comes out as a higher debt service mill levy. That's simple arithmetic, not a prediction of trouble. It does mean the dollar estimate in a 2026 disclosure is probably the low end of what the district needs to collect over the next several years.
What These Levies Mean for a $500,000 Home
District levies vary a lot across Aurora's newer communities. The table below shows the cost of the district portion alone on a $500,000 home. It uses the Colorado Division of Property Taxation's 2026 residential assessment rate for local governments, 6.8%, which gives an assessed value of $34,000. These are illustrations for comparison, not tax bills. A full bill also includes the county, the city, the school district and other overlapping taxing entities.
| District | Levy cited | Mills | District share per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Aurora Highlands Metropolitan District No. 1 | For collection in 2026 | 85.146 | about $2,895 | about $241 |
| Painted Prairie Metro Districts No. 2 to No. 10 | 2025 levy | 58.536 to 68.761 | about $1,990 to $2,338 | about $166 to $195 |
| Southshore Metro District | 2026 budget | 64.068 | about $2,178 | about $182 |
| Green Valley Ranch East Metropolitan District No. 6 | Levied 2025, collected 2026 | 62.310 | about $2,119 | about $177 |
| Murphy Creek Metropolitan District No. 1 | 2026 | 8.000 | about $272 | about $23 |
| Arapahoe County Tax Area 0025, Aurora with APS 28J | Tax year 2025 | No metro district levy | $0 | $0 |
At Painted Prairie, total overlapping levies for 2025 ran from 168.521 to 199.611 mills, paid to the Adams County Treasurer. The community's 2026 owners association dues range from $53 a month for front-load single-family homes to $348 a month for townhomes. Dues and district taxes are separate charges, and you pay both.
The district levy also pays for things you can see. At Southshore, the district took over facility and landscape work from the HOA in 2024. Its 2026 budget funds the Lakehouse pool, landscaping and nearly $3 million in reserves for asset replacement. A $0 metro levy in an older part of Aurora comes without those district-run amenities.
What to Pull Before You Write an Offer
The HB25-1219 packet is a good start. These items fill in the rest:
- The bond amortization schedule. Southshore posts its schedules for Series 2020A-1, 2020A-2 and 2020B. Look for how fast principal grows, not just today's payment.
- The current adopted budget's property tax summary. It shows the gross operating levy, any temporary reduction and the debt levy on separate lines.
- The service plan's maximum mill levy. That number limits how far the total can rise.
- The year the debt matures. At Southshore, that's 2046. Compare it with how long you expect to own the home.
- The district's annual meeting notice. Under HB25-1219, districts have to post it on their homepage and mail it or email it to eligible electors.
Right now is a good time to ask these questions. DMAR reported 4.76 months of inventory in September 2026, with 30-year fixed rates near 7.5% by month's end. Its market trends chair named rate buydowns and seller-paid concessions as part of current negotiations. A buyer who understands where a district's levy is headed has a concrete reason to bring that into the conversation about price and terms.
Questions Buyers Ask About Aurora Metro Districts
Is a rising debt levy a sign that a district is struggling?
Not necessarily. Southshore's levy is rising because its bonds were built to back-load principal, and the district reports a $2.9 million debt reserve along with on-time payments. A rising levy tells you how the debt is structured, not how healthy the district is.
Can a district pay its bonds off early?
Southshore's bond agreement allows optional redemptions starting December 1, 2030. The district has also shown residents a scenario that refinances the remaining principal into level annual payments from 2031 to 2046. It says it isn't endorsing or opposing either approach.
Does Colorado's statewide property tax limit cap my metro district bill?
The state Division of Local Government says the property tax revenue limit applies to a local government's total revenue, not to an individual homeowner's bill. Talk with a tax professional about how these rules apply to a specific property.
If you're comparing an Aurora metro district home with one in an older neighborhood that has no district levy, Next Chapter Partners Team can pull the bond schedule, the adopted budget and the service plan cap with you, then show you the district's tax at today's levy and after the next reassessment. Start Your Next Chapter with numbers that reach past the first year.
