For the 2024 fiscal year, the District certified a debt service mill levy of 66.137 mills. The change in the mill levy was needed for the District to maintain the same amount of revenue for this year as it received in prior years, taking into account increased home values and the addition of new homes. This adjustment was required due to the law passed at the end of 2023 by the Colorado legislature changing the method by which residential assessment values were calculated, which included a reduction of $55,000 in valuation per single family residence and a reduction in the residential assessment ratio.
The revised mill levy was determined by calculating what the District would have collected in tax revenue if the law had not passed, and adjusting the mill levy so that the same amount of revenue was received.
Why did we have to do this? This adjustment in mill levy was applied to the debt service mill levy. This adjustment was made to comply with the terms of the District’s bonds , which require a mill levy adjustment if there are changes in the method of calculating the assessed value of properties in the District following the issuance of the bonds.
The requirement to make this adjustment is an extremely common requirement in special district bond terms. Many Colorado special districts have seen prior adjustments over the past decade because of prior legislative changes to the assessment ratios.