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1/22/2020 Denver Post investigation into Colorado's metro districts reveals billions in debt paid by homeowners <br />Rau said it's up to homeowners to mind their finances. <br />"In their first year, homeowners will see much lower costs, and then the <br />second year they will see those additional costs," he said. "Like anyone, if <br />you have a lower cost and don't budget for the higher cost, you get <br />frustrated." <br />Critics say the problem isn't bad budgeting by homeowners, it's poor <br />money management by the developer -controlled boards that created the <br />debt. And despite that problem, they say, only the homeowners feel the <br />pain. <br />The bonds issued by Thompson Crossing in 2006 were recently refinanced <br />because the property taxes collected from the homes that had been built <br />there weren't enough to cover the interest payments. The $24 million tab <br />had exploded to $34 million, according to bond records. <br />Joe Amon, The Denver Post <br />Natalie Allen, new District 4 board member, outside her home in the Thompson <br />River Ranch community in Johnstown on Oct. 15, 2019. <br />"It's quite obvious that things are not running well here," said Natalie <br />Allen, a resident and newly appointed board member at Thompson <br />Crossing. "We were not able to pay the bondholders and we were told we <br />didn't have enough revenue. Oakwood said they need to build 1,000 more <br />homes for that to happen, and this year they built 57. That's just not a <br />https://www.denverpost.com/2019/12/05/metro-districts-debt-democracy-colorado-housing-development/ 41 15/19 <br />