Timnath's New Metro District Ceiling Sits Below What Several Neighborhoods Already Pay

On May 12, 2026, the Timnath Town Council unanimously adopted Resolution No. 32, Series 2026. The resolution rewrites the town's Special District Policy and Model Service Plan, the template every future metropolitan district has to follow. The draft presented to council proposed a 50-mill aggregate cap for new districts. At least four existing Timnath districts certified 2026 levies above that line, and the bonds behind those levies run into the 2050s.

So Timnath now has two kinds of district. Some were built under the old rules and are carrying long-dated debt. Future districts will be held to a lower ceiling. For a buyer comparing two homes at the same list price, the line between them can be worth a few thousand dollars a year. Colorado law now requires the seller to put that figure in writing.

The Paperwork That Changed in August 2025

Colorado HB25-1219 took effect on August 6, 2025. It requires every seller of residential property inside a metropolitan district to provide:

• Access to the district's annual notice to electors and its service plan
• Information on the district's authority to issue debt, levy property taxes, and impose fees, rates, tolls, penalties, or other charges
• An estimate, in dollars, of the property taxes the district will levy for collection during the year of the sale
• A copy of the most current certificate of taxes due or tax statement, so the buyer can estimate the levies from other taxing entities that overlap the property
• A written statement that some actions the district is authorized to take may increase costs to residents

The dollar requirement matters most. A mill levy is an abstraction until it is multiplied against a home's value. Under the old disclosure, a buyer could read a number like 63.297 and have no quick way to tell whether it meant a few hundred dollars or a few thousand. The fee authority line matters too, because some district charges never appear in the mill levy at all.

The 2026 Levies, District by District

Larimer County calculates property tax as actual value times assessment rate times mill levy, divided by 1,000. For tax year 2025, payable in 2026, local government levies, special districts included, use a 6.25 percent residential assessment rate. On an $800,000 home that comes to $50,000 in assessed value, and each mill costs $50 a year.

Here are the 2026 levies certified in the districts' adopted budgets, converted on that basis.

Wildwing's 2026 budget charges the $500 per-property O&M fee separately from its mill levy. The same budget notes that the district consolidated five districts into one in 2025. Count the fee and the gap between the top and bottom of this table, on the same $800,000 valuation, is roughly $2,750 a year.

Each figure covers one district's levy only, not the full tax bill. Levies from other taxing entities that overlap the property sit on top. Riverbend Estates' district page sends property-specific tax questions to the county assessor for that reason.

Nominal mills can also overstate what a district actually collects. Timnath Lakes Metropolitan District No. 4 lists 53.522 mills for 2026 but budgets $1 in property tax revenue. Timnath Lakes No. 1 shows 57.118 debt mills, but its 2026 debt service fund budgets $383,614 of its $449,258 in revenue from URA district property taxes. The certified levy gives a starting estimate. The seller's tax statement, now a required disclosure, is the figure to test that estimate against.

The Ceiling Timnath Wrote for the Next Generation of Districts

The rewrite moved quickly. Council held public work sessions on February 24 and March 10, 2026. On March 10 it adopted a 60-day moratorium on new service plan submittals, set to run until May 9 or until an updated Model Service Plan was adopted. At the April 28 meeting, council continued the item to May 12.

The staff report described the draft's main financial changes:

1. A maximum debt mill levy of 40 mills and an operations and maintenance levy of 10 mills, within a 50-mill aggregate
2. Those caps adjusted from the date of service plan approval, rather than from 2018, for changes in assessment rates
3. A maximum interest rate cut from 18 percent to 15 percent, and a maximum underwriter's rate cut from 5 percent to 3 percent
4. A debt levy term that may be shortened from 40 to 35 years, starting at the first levy or five years after the first building permit, whichever comes first

The motion approved the policy "with the changes to the Model Service Plan as discussed." The minutes do not list those changes, so the figures above are the draft's proposed numbers rather than confirmed final terms. The policy also states the town's intent to allow new metro districts only if they substantially enhance the quality of the entire community, in furtherance of the Timnath Comprehensive Plan. Town Council agendas through September 22, 2026 show no approval of a new metro district service plan since the rewrite.

Hold the table against that draft. Wildwing, Serratoga Falls No. 1, Timnath Lakes No. 1, and Timnath Lakes No. 3 all certified 2026 totals above 50 mills. Wildwing's operating levy alone is 24.053 mills, more than double the draft's 10-mill O&M figure. The new template governs districts that have not yet been formed. The existing districts keep operating under the service plans they were approved with.

Why the Spread Lasts Until the 2050s

Most of these levies are debt levies, and the debt is long. Timnath Ranch No. 1's debt mills pay bonds issued by Timnath Ranch Metropolitan District No. 4. Those include Series 2024 bonds at 4.25 to 5.00 percent, maturing December 1, 2054, and Series 2023C(3) bonds at 8.00 percent. Wildwing's 2024 bonds mature December 1, 2053. Trailside No. 6 issued $2.181 million in Series 2024A bonds at 7.75 percent, maturing December 1, 2054. Trailside No. 5, at the bottom of the table, carries 2024 bonds that mature December 1, 2056.

The real question is less whether a district has debt and more how much of the levy that debt takes up and how long it runs. On those schedules, a buyer closing this fall in any of these districts would be paying toward bonds for nearly three decades.

The statewide assessment change scheduled for next year does little to close the spread. For tax year 2026, payable in 2027, the Division of Property Taxation sets the residential local government rate at 6.80 percent, applied after a 10 percent reduction on the first $700,000 of actual value. On the same $800,000 home, assessed value moves from $50,000 to $49,640. Each mill still costs close to $50 a year, so the gap between districts carries forward almost unchanged.

Reading a Timnath Listing With the District in Mind

On any two homes at similar prices, these figures add up to a short comparison:

• Ask for the HB25-1219 disclosure package early, before inspection deadlines, so the district's dollar estimate and the seller's tax statement can be compared side by side.
• Separate operating mills from debt mills. Debt mills follow a bond schedule. Operating mills and fees, like Wildwing's $500 charge, follow the board's annual budget.
• Note when the bonds mature. A levy that ends in 2053 and one that runs to 2056 are different commitments for anyone planning a long hold.
• Treat odd numbers as questions, not answers. Timnath Lakes No. 3's 2026 budget lists 2022A bonds with initial principal of $12,901,934.35 and 2022B subordinate bonds of $5,543,000, yet also states the district has no outstanding indebtedness. A discrepancy like that is worth raising with the district before closing.

None of this is tax advice. A tax professional or the Larimer County Assessor can confirm the full levy stack on a specific parcel.

Common Questions

Do Timnath's new caps lower the levy in an existing district? The revised Model Service Plan sets terms for new service plans. The 2026 budgets reviewed here show existing districts certifying levies under their own approved plans and bond obligations.

Is the district estimate on the disclosure the whole tax bill? No. HB25-1219 requires a dollar estimate of the district's taxes plus a copy of the most recent tax statement. The tax statement is what shows the levies from overlapping entities such as the county and school district.

Why does a district show mills but almost no revenue? Some Timnath Lakes districts list levies while budgeting very little property tax income, and in one case part of the debt is covered by urban renewal increment. The certified rate and the amount actually collected can differ, which is why the parcel's tax statement matters.

If you own in one of these districts and are weighing a sale, the dollar estimate HB25-1219 requires is now part of how buyers will read your home's price. MCM Collective can help you prepare that disclosure package alongside a valuation that accounts for your district's levy. Request a Home Valuation to start the conversation.