In This Section
The Solterra development was initially started by Carma Lakewood LLC, in 2006. Carma Lakewood LLC later changed its name to Solterra LLC and was later acquired by Brookfield Residential Properties, Inc. ("Brookfield"). Brookfield is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and is referred to as the developer.
On June 30, 2017, after disputes between Brookfield and the residents arose, all Brookfield employees that were previously serving as the majority of the Boards of Directors resigned from the District 1, 2 and 3 Boards. The existing resident Board Members from Districts 2 and 3 appointed qualified electors and those new Board Members for District 2 and District 3 were sworn in on September 26, 2017. District 1 had no qualified electors because, at the time, District 1 was a small 10-foot plot of land owned by Brookfield but with no board of directors after the en mass Brookfield board member resignation. As such, Districts 2 and 3 sought a Jefferson County court order allowing Districts 2 and 3 to manage District 1, until such time as the resident election in May of 2018. On November 13, 2017, the District Court ruled that the five resident board members comprising of the District 2 and 3 Boards could assume control of District 1.
Since the Brookfield board resignations, the Solterra residents have controlled the three District Boards. That has inevitably led to various disputes between Brookfield and the District Boards, culminating in several currently pending lawsuits.
The Solterra Home Owners Association ("HOA") is a Colorado nonprofit corporation formed onJanuary 10, 2008 to serve the residents of Solterra. The Board of Directors is made up of five (5)members, all of which are residents. Current board members and meeting dates can be found on the Solterra HOA Board of Directors page.
The five Board members (all residents) serve three-year staggered terms, so each year at least one Board seat will be up for election. Contact Overlook Properties (303-991-2192) for election timing and the number of Board seats open as well as any paperwork required to run for the Board.
View the current HOA Bylaws*
*Please note that this is not a FRMD document.
2025 Solterra Homeowners Association:Annual Assessment of $250.00/year Due Date: January 1, 2025.Late Date: 30 days after due date Late Fee: $10.00 and 21% per annum interest.The Annual Assessment will not be set for 2026 until the Budget is developed.
Trash removal, covenant control and architectural
Please see the Trash and Recycling page.
For questions or concerns regarding trash and recycling services, please contact Waste Connection of Colorado at 303-288-2100 or Overlook Property Management at 303-991-2192.
For more information, please download the WasteConnect app on your mobile device for updates and assistance, including a helpful calendar for pick up days.
The Patio Homes HOA is a separate owners association specifically limited to the patio homes (also referred to the Remington Homes in reference to the builder). The Patio Homes HOA provides snow removal and landscape maintenance for those specific properties. The Board ofDirectors is composed of three residents. Current members can be found on the Solterra Patio HOA's website. The terms are for three years, with the terms staggered, so that one position comes up for election each year.
Fossil Ridge Metropolitan District (FRMD) is a special district which was organized in 2006 for the specific purpose of financing certain construction necessary for the development of Solterra. Financing of the development includes that which can be accomplished through bonds issued through FRMD as well as private financing through the developer. The developer is responsible for financing private improvements or those public improvements which cannot be financed through FRMD. FRMD was provided with sufficient flexibility to also handle the operations and maintenance of amenities within the community on a long-term basis. FRMD is authorized under Title 32, C.R.S., and pursuant to its Service Plan.
Special Districts are local governments and political subdivisions of the State. Local governments are comprised of counties/cities/towns, but also include other types of governments such as school districts and special districts. Metropolitan Districts are a subsection of special districts which provide two or more services on behalf of their constituents. Special Districts have existed in Colorado in various forms since the mid 1950 s in order to finance and provide public infrastructure and services. There are over 2,000 special districts in the State of Colorado, which serve both residential and commercial developments.
Metropolitan Districts homeowners are governed by an elected board of directors, which hold a common-law as well as statutory fiduciary obligation to the district and its constituents. They are regulated by Colorado Revised Statute Title 32.
Board elections are held in May of odd years. Special districts may also conduct special elections in February, May, October, November and December if necessary. Board candidates run for either a 2 or 4 year term. Vacancies on the Board are appointed by the Board to serve until the next scheduled election. Special District Boards are subject to various transparency laws, which means they must hold open meetings, properly provide notice of all meetings, keep minutes and other records which are open for inspection, hold elections for their governing board of directors, adopt annual budgets and submit to annual financial audits.
Metropolitan district homeowners are able to finance public facilities with tax exempt municipal bonds which may result in cost savings to property owners through a reduced cost of borrowing. Metropolitan district homeowners can also take certain tax deductions in connection with ad valorem taxes (typically real estate taxes) paid to the district. The financing powers of special districts also offer advantages over the funding of costs for items that might otherwise be provided through homeowner's associations, which rely upon assessments that are not tax deductible to the homeowner.
FRMD is authorized by the Service Plan to finance, construct and operate water, sanitation, street, traffic and safety controls, park and recreation improvements, and to engage in services for mosquito and pest control, security and covenant control. While the Service Plan authorizes FRMD to provide these services, FRMD uses other special districts and municipalities like the City of Lakewood to provide many of these services like water (Consolidated Mutual Water,), sanitation (Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District), traffic and safety control (City of Lakewood) and covenant control (Solterra HOA). FRMD does not provide mosquito and pest control.
A Service Plan is a document that is approved by the existing local governing jurisdiction (here, the City of Lakewood). It sets forth the development and financial authorization of a special district, grants and limits certain powers of the district, and governs the overall structure of the district. The Service Plan will continue to govern FRMD as long as FRMD remains in existence.
Please see the FRMD Board of Directors page
In order to be qualified to serve on the Board of Directors of a District, a person must be an "eligible elector" of the District. An "eligible elector" is a person who, at the designated time or event, is registered to vote in the State of Colorado pursuant to the Uniform Election Code of 1992, and who either: 1) is a resident of the special district; 2) owns, or has a spouse or civil union partner who owns, real or personal property within the special district; or 3) is obligated to pay taxes under a contract to purchase taxable property within the special district. Before each election, the District provides notice to the eligible electors informing them of the upcoming election and requesting self-nomination forms. Any eligible elector may submit a self-nomination form nominating themselves to participate in the election process for a board seat. If there are more self-nomination forms than open board seats, the District will proceed with either a mail ballot or polling place election. All eligible electors of FRMD are able to vote. If there are not more interested candidates that have submitted a self nomination form than there are open seats, the election will be cancelled, and the candidates will be elected by acclimation and take their seats immediately after the May election date. If a board member resigns during their term, the vacancy is filled by appointment of the remaining board members and the appointee then serves until the next regular election.
An intergovernmental agreement ("IGA”) is a contractual agreement between at least two governmental entities, i.e. other Metropolitan District, City, County or State. As a governmental entity, FRMD may enter into agreements with other governmental entities. You can view the IGAs FRMD has on the FRMD Governing Documents page.
FRMD has an approved Public Records Request Policy in place, which is posted on this site and and is readily available from the District manager. The Public Records Request Policy contains information as to how to make requests for inspection or copies of any public documents of FRMD.
Mount Carbon Metropolitan District ("Mount Carbon") is a separate and special district with legal boundaries that encompass certain properties within the Rooney Valley. Mount Carbon was organized on September 14, 1976, and at the time of its organization included the property within Solterra along with adjacent developments. Mount Carbon filed bankruptcy on July 14, 1997 under Chapter 9 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code. The Mount Carbon Bankruptcy Plan was approved and funded on April 22, 2004, at which point the debt outstanding was restructured.
As with other properties previously within its boundaries, the Solterra property was excluded from Mount Carbon in August 2006 as a condition of the City of Lakewood prior to the organization of FRMD. In accordance with C.R.S. §32-1-503, the Solterra property excluded from Mount Carbon (along with other properties that were excluded at that time) remains subject to all Mount Carbon debt in existence at the time of exclusion until the same is fully discharged or paid. Mount Carbon, as a separate governmental entity, holds and is fully responsible for its debt. FRMD does not have any discretion or direct responsibility for, or over, the debt. All property that is within the current Mount Carbon boundaries, as well as those that were excluded from its boundaries while the debt was in place, remains subject to the imposition of the current 27 mils or negotiated mil levy at the time of the exclusion, until such debt is paid or discharged, which is currently scheduled for 2043 based upon Mount Carbon's audited financial information.
FRMD establishes a schedule of fees concurrently with annual budget requirements. FRMD is responsible for operation and maintenance associated with public amenities such as the pool and Retreat, and landscaping of common areas, parks and trails within the community. FRMD 1 also provides additional services to some of the Townhomes and the Gated Community for additional fees assessed quarterly.
For 2022 taxes paid in 2023, the FRMD 2 and FRMD 3 boards approved 30.7000 mills for Debt Service and 5.8000 mills for Operations for a total of 36.500 mills. This is an increase from 35.5 total mills paid in 2022. The FRMD 1 Board approved 0.000 mills for Debt Service and 0.000 mills for Operations. The mill levy for FRMD 1 is 0.000 because the homes in FRMD 1 are in either FRMD 2 or FRMD 3, so they are already paying the same mill levy as everyone else.
The table below shows how the FRMD mill levy compares to other Metro District mill levies. With the exceptions of Ken Caryl and Mt. Carbon, all these Metro Districts have been developed in recent years. Ken Caryl was established in 1988. Mt. Carbon was created in the 1980s with over half of its mill levy to repay bonds issued in 2004 when Mt. Carbon’s bankruptcy plan was approved.
In addition to the FRMD mill levy, FRMD homes pay the following mill levies in 2023. The total of all mill levies for an FRMD home is 148.7530 mills.
The FRMD Maximum Mill Levy is currently capped at 57.2662 but can be adjusted if the Resident Assessment Rate (“RAR “) is changed by the Colorado State Legislature. Following is a historical review of the total mill levy imposed on property within the boundaries of Fossil Ridge Metropolitan District Nos. 1-3. The year listed is the year that the taxes are collected.
1 The 2019 mill levy rate for FRMD 2 and FRMD 3 was supposed to be 43.668. However, a clerical error was made resulting in the 37.668 mill levy rate for FRMD 2 and FRMD 3. The clerical error also resulted in an FRMD 1 mill levy rate of 5.000 mills. The taxes collected from FRMD 1 were returned to the homeowners since their homes reside in either FRMD 2 or FRMD 3 and they paid the 37.668 mill levy rate.
The mills are adjusted every two years based on the RAR approved by the state legislature. In 2023, 30.7000 mills is applied to the Debt Service requirements of FRMD, such as outstanding bond obligations, and 5.8000 mills is used for Operational and Administrative requirements, such as maintenance of the pool, retreat and landscaping. FRMD current year budgets are the best way to review how property taxes are utilized by FRMD. Current FRMD Budgets may be accessed on the FRMD Financial Information page.
The Service Plan limits the FRMD mill levy to a total of 50 mills, which includes both debt and operations purposes. The 50 mills may be adjusted proportionately to the extent the RAR is decreased/increased such that FRMD property tax revenue remains neutral. (See section on the Gallagher Adjustment, which was repealed by a vote of Colorado residents in 2020.)
The City of Lakewood approved the Service Plan for FRMD on August 27, 2007, which sets the maximum mill levy. The Maximum Mill Levy of 50 approved in the Service Plan was relatively common in the Denver metropolitan area for Title 32 metropolitan districts. The Maximum Mill Levy has historically been adjusted whenever the state legislature approved a change in the Residential Assessment Rate (RAR). (See section on the Gallagher Adjustment, which was repealed by a vote of Colorado residents in 2020.)
The boards of directors approve the Districts mill levies, including any proposed increases, when approving the subsequent year's budget at a public hearing. The mill levy of FRMD is required to be certified to Jefferson County by December 15 of each year.
Following is an example of calculating FRMD taxes on a $700,000 property using information for 2022 taxes collected in 2023:
2 Mill rate represents amount per $1,000 of assessed value. So, to calculate property taxes, divide the mill rate by 1000. In this instance, it would equal .036500.
As shown above, property taxes are calculated as a percentage of the actual value of the property. Before there are any improvements on the land, the valuation is low and the resulting property taxes are low as well. However, once the house is constructed the valuation increases substantially and the property taxes increase proportionally. The county assessor also conducts a re-assessment of all property in every odd numbered year and values may be adjusted at that time.
Finally, property taxes are imposed on the prior year’s assessment. For example, property taxes collected in 2023 are based on assessed valuations from 2022.
Additional Jefferson County tax information may be accessed through the Jefferson County Assessor.
The purpose of the Gallagher Amendment was to fix the ratio of statewide residential versus non-residential property taxes. FRMD has never been bound by the Gallagher Amendment due to approval of a 2006 FRMD ballot issue. As a result of passage of that ballot issue, the FRMD mill levy can be adjusted based on changes to the RAR so that resulting revenues are neutral. In November 2020, the residents of Colorado voted to repeal the Gallagher Amendment.
The authority to perform a revenue neutral mill levy adjustment is stated in the FRMD Service Plan. The FRMD Maximum Mill Levy may not exceed fifty (50) mills; provided that if, on or after January 1, 2007, there are changes in the method of calculating assessed valuation, the mill levy limitation may be increased or decreased to reflect such changes so that actual tax revenue generated by the mill levy are neither diminished nor enhanced.
For instance, when the RAR decreased from 7.15% to 6.95% for 2022, the District was able to increase its Mill Levy from 35.5 mills to 36.5. The dollar amount generated by FRMD would then remain constant despite the reduction in assessed valuation.
In this example, FRMD increased the mill levy to recover some lost property tax revenue due to the change in the Residential Assessment Rate from 7.15% to 6.95%.
The state legislature changed the assessment RAR and process for 2023 taxes payable in 2024.
The FRMD debt limitation is set forth in the Service Plan.
In order to impose taxes, issue debt, and impose certain fees, metropolitan districts are required to obtain voter approval, commonly referred to as TABOR (Tax Payer Bill of Rights) Authorization. FRMD obtained initial TABOR Authorization at an election on November 7, 2006. Initial TABOR Authorization is typically structured in a manner to maximize flexibility of the district when allocating financial resources, yet the district remains subject to the limitations set forth in its Service Plan. For example, FRMD has voted TABOR authorization to issue up to $60 million in debt for Street Improvements and has additional voted TABOR authorization to issue up to $60 million in debt for Water Improvements. However, FRMD is unable to issue the total amount of General Obligation (G.O.) debt for each individual power such as Street Improvements and Water Improvements based upon the voted amounts because the FRMD Service Plan limits total General Obligation debt to $70 million. As General Obligation debt is issued by FRMD, up to the $70 million authorized in the Service Plan, it must be allocated between the various voter authorized uses (i.e. streets, water, sewer, parks and recreation, mosquito control etc.).
General Obligation Debt is debt issued by FRMD, which is discharged by a pledge of property taxes that are imposed in District Nos. 2-3. General Obligation debt is permitted under the Service Plan for purposes of financing on-site improvements or the FRMD proportionate share of Regional Improvements.
Revenue Debt is supported by revenues other than property taxes, specifically including the following sources:
Revenue debt may be issued for that portion of the Regional Improvements that are of benefit and allocable to properties adjacent to Solterra. FRMD does not impose any property taxes or capital fees upon residents or property owners in connection with the Revenue Debt and residents within FRMD are not part of any Regional Service Provider. Ultimately, risk of reimbursement for any Regional Improvements that are required to be funded through Revenue Debt is directly attributable to the developer and its ability to obtain cost share from adjacent property owners.
As FRMD develops, and the cumulative value of its property increases, FRMD is then able to support a higher capacity of debt. When there is sufficient valuation within FRMD to support a bond issuance, and when FRMD has sufficient outstanding obligations (developer advances), FRMD may issue bonds. As FRMD is a governmental entity, bonds may generally be issued on a tax-exempt basis and the bond purchasers therefore are not required to pay certain taxes on income related to the bonds which results in lower interest rates for FRMD.
On October 29, 2020, FRMD issued its Limited Tax General Obligation Refunding and Improvement Bonds, Series 2020 in the total amount of $33,105,000 (the “2020 Bonds”). The 2020 Bonds were issued (i) to refund all the previous bonds issued in 2010, 2014, and 2016 and (ii) to repay Developer Advances in the amount of $10,000,000. The new, blended interest rate on the 2020 Bonds is equal to 2.83%, as measured by the All-In True Interest Cost. This compares to the prior blended interest rate of 5.51%. FRMD refunding of the prior bonds resulted in the reducing the annual bond principal and interest requirements by approximately $280,000, even with the additional new bond issuance of $10,000,000.
Final Official Offering Statement
It was originally contemplated that District No. 1 would be the issuer of debt to be supported by mill levy pledge agreements of District Nos. 2 and 3. Due to subsequent IRS regulations and bond counsel requirements in connection with tax exempt financing, the structure was modified with the 2014 issuance such that District No. 3 was the designated issuer. While the issuer may have changed, all developable property in Solterra is paying the same mill levy toward all debt issued by FRMD.
The FRMD share of eligible costs is currently under review with assistance from the District Engineer and District Legal Counsel. The primary documents for determining FRMD’s share of development costs are the Reimbursement of Developer Loan and Public Infrastructure Acquisition Agreement dated May 13, 2008 and the Second Amended and Restated Service Plan dated August 27, 2007.
Reimbursement of Developer Loan and Public Infrastructure Acquisition Agreement
Second Amended and Restated Service Plan
As stated in the Reimbursement of Developer Loan and Public Infrastructure Acquisition Agreement, there are two scenarios under which reimbursements for public improvements may occur.
District Construction Contracts: For infrastructure constructed by FRMD, the developer may loan money to FRMD to pay for such construction. These loans are tracked by the FRMD accountants and are eligible for reimbursement with interest, as the same accrues through the time of payment. The FRMD engineer assists with public bidding that may be necessary and monitors and manages all construction that takes place throughout FRMD.
Developer Construction Contracts: The Developer often constructs improvements on behalf of FRMD and can request reimbursement once the improvements are substantially complete. The FRMD engineer and accountant follow the certification and acceptance process that has been adopted by FRMD, which includes a review of the underlying documents, invoices and the improvements. If acceptable, the FRMD engineer and consultants then make a recommendation to FRMD as to acceptance of the costs. Upon adoption of a Resolution of acceptance, the costs are recognized for reimbursement.
In December 2014, the FRMD engineer certified costs for improvements constructed by the developer, which was accepted by FRMD. The total costs recognized pursuant to the certification were $24.6 million.
For more information, see the Resolution accepting certified costs for improvements constructed by the developer in 2014 and the map highlighting the improvements constructed by the developer on behalf of the District, the costs of which were accepted by the District in 2014.
To the extent that FRMD recognizes District Construction Contracts and/or Developer Construction Contracts in excess of the General Obligation Bond limitation of $70 million or Revenue Bond limitation of $21 million, those amounts will not be subject to reimbursement by FRMD.
The only other infrastructure accepted using this process is Orchard Park in December 2020. The District is still evaluating its share of other remaining infrastructure costs.