The Denver City Council permitted the debt limit of three metropolitan districts to increase nearly 300% despite District 9 Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca's opposition.
The three Denargo Market metropolitan districts received an amended service plan that increased their debt limit from $22.6 million to $68 million. The amendments were outlined during a required public hearing on Tuesday and are a necessity, according to metro district board members addressing the council.
A metropolitan district is a financing mechanism the city can leverage to fund new roads, sidewalks and other infrastructure needed for new developments. Residents within the metro district are responsible for paying back the debt accrued through property taxes.
In January, the council created five metropolitan districts for the Park Hill Golf Course redevelopment, which CdeBaca also voted against. The council passed the Denargo Market metro district amendment 10-1, with CdeBaca being the sole no vote.
She questioned why the debt limit needed to be increased by nearly 300%. CdeBaca also took a moment to address Denverites, highlighting her opposition to metro districts as a funding mechanism.
"This should be a lesson to the viewers and to anyone who is really tuning into where we are allowing metro districts and how this works," she said. "You can have a developer make all the promises in the world, not be able to deliver on those promises with what they're currently allowed and still have the ability to come back to us and increase the amount of debt they're allowed from the city."
Metro district board members pushed back against CdeBaca's claim that an agreement was signed, despite all parties knowing there was not enough money to finish. The original agreement dates back to 2019 and the $22.6 million price tag was reflective of improvement costs at that time, they said.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and ravaged supply chains. Furthermore, the country has been gripped by an inflation crisis that continues driving prices up. Additionally, there have been multiple shortages in construction resources, like lumber, since the pandemic's peak.
"It's very difficult to be able to support that costs associated with that goes to infrastructure improvements without the support of the metro districts," Jeff Jones, a board member of the Denargo Market metropolitan district said. "I don't know that it's accurate to state that we weren't prepared to move forward in any form or fashion. But it will be a challenge without this additional support."
He added that while funding challenges are always present, the cost to make improvements has increased by 30-35% since 2019.
At the same time as Denver's council meeting, senators in Denver's statehouse were hearing testimony on House Bill 1090. House Bill 23-1090, known as "Limit Metropolitan District Director Conflicts" in the legislature, is a bill that seeks to stop metropolitan district developers from buying municipal bonds that they or their affiliates approved for sale while serving on the community’s board of directors, according to previous Colorado Politics coverage.
The bill was killed in a senate committee by a 4-3 vote Tuesday night.
It cleared the state House in a 38-24 vote that drew bipartisan support. During testimony in a Senate committee, Sen. Julie Gonzales said a principal from the group that owns the Park Hill Golf Course and is trying to redevelop it testified against the bill.
"I'm in (committee) and one of the principals of Westside Investment just testified against HB23-1090, prohibiting conflicts of interests for metro districts' boards of directors," she said in a tweet. "So with that, I can no longer in good conscience support 2O on the Park Hill Golf Course."
