by Scott Lasher

The way water and parks services are administered in Castle Pines North could potentially change. A group of Castle Pines North (CPN) residents has formally filed a petition for the dissolution of the Castle Pines North Metro District, which has to date provided water, wastewater and storm water services, as well as maintained Metro District-owned parks, trails and open spaces within Castle Pines North.

The request for petition was filed on August 10 by Castle Pines North Citizens for Tax Relief (CPNCTR), a group led by Greg Miller, a CPN resident and organizer of the CPNCTR.

According to the CPNCTR website,
www.cpntaxrelief.com, the group was established to “provide Castle Pines North citizens with accurate information about avenues that exist to reduce property taxes and the cost of home ownership through integrated governmental services.”

The CPNCTR advocates that an integration of the Metro District into the City would result in a tax relief benefit for CPN residents. According to the CPNCTR, “One of the key components of incorporation was the integration of CPNMD into the City of Castle Pines North.”

“No progress was being made [toward integration], so I felt it was time to move towards a resolution,” Miller said.

The Metro District submitted a position paper on August 26 (posted at www.cpnmd.org) in response to the filing for petition, as well as formally filing the Metro District’s response to the proposal for dissolution. In the position paper, Metro District Board chairman Bill Santos stated, “We have to question why abolishing this entity would be in the best interests of Castle Pines North residents.”

In the position paper, the District notes a potential for the retiring of a significant portion of the District’s debt, $5.2 million by 2013, which would result in a mill levy reduction and a decrease to taxpayers.

“We are going to continue to do the job we were hired to do, and the petition will not influence what our core mission is,” CPNMD General Manager Jim McGrady said. “When you have a functioning metro district like ours, unraveling that is a heck of an undertaking and we have to scratch our heads and wonder ‘Where is this coming from?’”

The petition for the dissolution of the Metro District is currently in the review process and must be approved by the District. CPNCTR can begin obtaining signatures following the approval process, which Special Council for the District, Matt Dalton, stated should happen in the next few weeks.

According to Colorado statutes governing such petitions, either five percent of the eligible electorate or 250 signatures, whichever is lower, must be obtained to have a petition eligible to be filed. If 250 signatures are obtained in the petition, the City of Castle Pines North and the CPNMD are required by law to come up with a plan for the transfer of services from the District to the City.

The plan must detail a way to retire all financial obligations outstanding for the District, an agreement with the City on how assets will transfer, and also a plan under which the City will assume the services provided currently by the CPNMD. According to Dalton, this process is required by law to take two months, but he said the District would ask for an extension and the process could then take several more months. The agreed upon plan would be filed with the courts, which would subsequently order a special election and voters would either approve or disapprove of the dissolution plan.

“This isn’t something where you snap your fingers and it gets done,” McGrady said. “The process is daunting.”

The CPNCTR says it is prepared for such a process.

“Right now, our goal is to get this out into the public,” Miller said. “We are confident the rule of law will win out.”

The CPNCTR is hosting a community forum on the topic and Miller is inviting anyone in the community to attend. It is scheduled to take place on September 15 at Dazbog, located at 7298 Lagae Road (on the corner of Lagae Road and Castle Pines Parkway) at 6 p.m.

Stay tuned to the Castle Pines Connection for updates on this story as they happen.