Longmont City Council on Tuesday night voted to reverse an ordinance that allowed the creation of metropolitan taxing districts that critics claim put too much financial burden on future homebuyers.
The 5-2 vote exposed long-standing fissures on the council when it comes to residential taxing districts. Councilwoman Marcia Martin, who along with Councilman Tim Waters cast a dissenting vote, said opponents of the districts are “dead wrong.”
“This has simply become a litmus test for a faction of formerly liberal Longmont residents who harbor a deep prejudice against the development industry,” Martin said.
Councilman Aren Rodriguez, who moved to rescind an existing ordinance, said the issue is unlikely to end with the Tuesday vote. He noted the creation of special districts in Longmont — and elsewhere — has become a wedge issue and council members are unlikely to change their positions anytime soon.
“This is not only a Longmont problem but also a Colorado problem” Rodriguez said. “We are all aware of each other’s points … and we have different, best interests at heart. We should just come up with a closure on this issue and potentially another council will pick it up again.”
Waters said Mayor Brian Bagley tried to cut off public debate on the ordinance change when he called for a council vote on Rodriguez’s motion to rescind. Waters pointed out that a public hearing needed to be held before a final vote by the council.
Bagley admitted his mistake and said he called for a vote on Rodriguez’s motion to avoid any “vitriol” that could occur in a council debate.
Waters said Bagley and Rodriguez wanted to quickly push through the new ordinance without any debate.
“The objective last night was not discussion,” Waters said Wednesday morning. “It was to muzzle any more input to get to a vote. I think Longmont deserves better.”
The council vote rescinded an ordinance passed in 2019 that placed no limits on special districts composed exclusively of residential development. The ordinance passed Tuesday reinstates one written and amended in 2012 that restricts the number of residential units in mixed-use developments to no more than 50% of square footage.
Critics of the 2019 ordinance have said metro district developers were unfairly taxing homebuyers to help pay for infrastructure including street paving and water lines.
“Buyers of homes in district projects are often unaware of the higher property taxes in their development and may become upset when property taxes increase,” states the ordinance approved Tuesday. “Residents may be surprised to find out the price of their homes did not include the price of streets and utilities in their development and that they must pay for this over a 30 or more year period through their property taxes.”
Jim Gibson, a member of Citizens for Metro District Reform, told council Tuesday that the tax levied on homeowners in metro districts quickly becomes an unfair burden.
“Homeowners lose their control over their financial future,” Gibbons said. “Special district residents are like credit card holders. Their debt just continues to grow and grow all the time.”
But Martin and Waters have argued that special districts, if regulated properly, can provide affordable housing that other developers have declined to construct.
Residential metro districts have been part of a package used in Longmont to lower the cost of borrowing in the construction industry, Martin said. She points to Longmont’s only metro district — Mountain Brook — as an example that incorporates affordable housing, greenways and multimodal transit.
Mountain Brook Partners LLC ‘s service plan that was reviewed by the city contained limits on the mill levy and the amount of reimbursements the developer could receive, Martin said.
“There are people who want to mischaracterize the Mountain Brook development as luxury housing but it is not,” Martin said. “Most of the development includes housing in the attainable range.”
Waters said he does not have a stake in the creation of special districts in Longmont. “But it’s about the tools to help us fulfill our obligations to provide an array of housing options for working people in Longmont.”
Council members voted in February to give their preliminary approval to the ordinance change but COVID-19 restrictions pushed the final vote on the issue forward to Tuesday night.
