FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a Special District?
Special districts or special district governments in the United States are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from, and with substantial administrative and fiscal independence from, general purpose local governments such as county, municipal, and township governments and that are formed to perform a single function or a set of related functions. As defined by the U.S. Census Bauru, the term special district governments excludes school districts.
What types of districts do WSDM District Managers manage?
All of the districts that WSDM currently manages are metropolitan districts. Metropolitan districts are permitted by Colorado state statute to finance community planning and certain critical infrastructure, including initial construction of streets and certain utilities, as well as amenities such as common-use pools, parks, and community structures.
What is my mill levy?
Each district’s mill levy is specified within the budget statements and annual reports.
What is a bond?
For the purpose of a special district, there are bonds issued. These involve the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to finance public improvements within the special district. Districts may construct public improvements and/ or purchase public improvements through the bond proceeds.
What are the benefits for me living within a special district or owning land within a special district?
Private Sector Benefits include non-recourse financing, long-term financing, reduced equity and or third-party borrowings, 100% debt financing, tax-exempt interest rates, interest reserves, no acceleration provisions, accelerate construction, additional facilities, and impact fee credit.
Public Sector Benefits include; the growth within the district is assured without impact on existing residents, preserves debt capacity of the jurisdiction, a new source of capital funding, the jurisdiction is not financially responsible for the debt obligations, competitive advantage among public entities, fulfillment of public purpose objectives, provision of additional amenities, and faster than impact fees.
Homeowner Benefits include lower home prices, additional amenities, advanced construction of improvements, and reduced operations and maintenance expenses.
Who do I contact…?
All questions can be directed toward WSDM District Managers either by email or phone at the contact information provided on our Contact page.