City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2020 01 28

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Kelly PC 999 18th Street, Suite 1450, Denver, CO 80202 Mayor Stolzmann and Councilmembers City of Louisville January 23, 2020 Page 5 • The City Council, as the governing body of the one and only “general purpose” local government in the area, may desire to establish overriding priorities for key issues affecting its citizens. A metro district, however, has its own elected officials and may choose to pursue its own priorities within its boundaries, which may or may not conflict with the City’s priorities. • For this reason, the establishment of a metro district can erode the power of the City Council to determine the City’s direction and destiny—a measure of the City’s power is, in essence, transferred to the district. To reduce problems in this area, a service plan can place limits on a district’s powers and autonomy. • A district’s voting constituency (as well as its governing body) is made up of “eligible electors,” who are not necessarily taxpayers and need not be residents of the district. In the early period after formation, when key financial decisions are made, the taxpaying electors and governing body members are typically limited to those directly connected with the developer. In addition, on an ongoing basis, the interests of nonresident taxpaying electors may not necessarily be aligned with those of residents. In residential districts, control of the district is ultimately transferred to the residents; however, in a multiple-district structure this control may not include the ability of the residents to impact financial decisions already made or obligations already incurred by the district. • A municipality is typically a highly visible form of local government, while a district can be “invisible.” Citizens often do not even know that one or more services are being provided by districts. In the event of dissatisfaction with those services, the City can become the focus of complaints, because everyone knows where “City Hall” is, but not necessarily “Metro District Hall.” Therefore, care should be taken to distinguish the roles of the City and any districts. • Because a district can be “invisible,” citizens and homeowners may not be fully aware of the tax consequences of residing within the boundaries of one or more districts. If district boundaries encompass only a portion of the City, one resident’s overall property tax burden may be different from another’s. In the typical development infrastructure financing district, service plan approval is commonly sought for financing that imposes an additional mill levy of 50 mills for debt. • In addition to differential taxes for those owning property located within or without a specific district, additional district taxes may be perceived as having an effect the City’s ability to raise its own taxes. Therefore, some assessment is typically made regarding the appropriateness of both differential and overlapping tax mill levies. Some municipalities 8