FRMD Unification of Districts

ACTIVITY UPDATE: July 27, 2026

On July 21, 2025, Fossil Ridge Metropolitan Districts Nos. 1-3 held a regularly scheduled Board meeting. At that meeting, among other things, the 3 Boards reviewed and approved a Joint Resolution Authorizing Commencement of Merger Process and Establishing a Merger Committee.

The Boards then appointed a Board committee to work with legal counsel to clarify the benefits and potential future cost savings of merging the 3 Districts, as well as the process for accomplishing the merger. However, we were not able to move forward because the City of Lakewood was in the process of revising its procedures to amend a service plan, which is the first step required in completing the merger. Recently, the City issued its final guidelines, allowing the project to move forward.

On July 20, 2026, the Districts' attorney, Emily Powell, updated the Boards on a new timeline for completing the merger. There are many steps to the process, and the timing has been extended to accommodate the revised requirements. As such, the May 2027 regular election of Board members to fill vacant seats will take place as usual, and will not be affected by the merger project. An election to consider merger of the Districts is projected to be held in early 2028.

It is expected that merging the Districts into a single unified special district will eliminate the significant administrative and statutory compliance burdens and expenses associated with maintaining a three-district structure, including conducting three annual audits; developing, adopting, and monitoring three budgets and the associated accounting services; meeting statutory requirements for three Districts; conducting elections of Board members for the three Districts; and annually developing, certifying, and collecting property taxes for both District No. 2 and District No. 3.

The Boards will keep you, the residents, informed via periodic updates on Solterra- Connect.