By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Imagine paying a $200 tax each month for a community infrastructure project that was completed decades ago. To add insult to injury, consider being told that you’ll continue doing so for 100 years.
That’s the reality for approximately 20,000 property owners who reside in Meadows Metro District (MMD), Castle Rock’s largest neighborhood in Douglas County.
The MMD ‘limited tax’ general obligation bonds were issued in 1989 to finance infrastructure, including roads and sewer systems. The project’s initial price tag was $57 million. But residents have paid approximately $400 million, with a remaining debt of $600 million due to a negative amortization structure.
How did a ‘limited tax’ bond turn into a debt that residents, generations later, are on the hook for decades more to come?
The bonds were restructured in 1993, extending the repayment period. Later, adjustments ensured that the tax obligations would continue indefinitely, through a 100-year payout structure.
Jim Garcia, a real estate agent in Douglas County and MMD resident, became aware of the tax issue after multiple clients, particularly seniors on fixed incomes, told him they were forced to sell their homes due to high property taxes.
“A lot of people were calling me up and saying, ‘I need to sell my house because I can’t afford to stay in my house. I’ve done everything right. My house is paid off. I’m on a fixed income, on Social Security. The taxes are going up and I can’t afford to stay here. So I need to sell my house and leave.’”
For 35 years, no one questioned why the MMD’s debt never shrank—until Garcia did.
Determined to untangle the district’s finances, he gathered every document he could find.
“They weren’t organized chronologically, so I printed everything out. I had documents all over my house—my kitchen island, countertops, kitchen table, office,” he said. “I put Post-it notes, paper clips and cover sheets everywhere. I had to organize everything in order just to see what actually went down over the last 35 years.”
Over five years, Garcia’s digging was spurred on by a question, “Where is all the money going?” Garcia wondered, “Are we paying for something? Is it paying for the roads to be fixed every two years?”
As the pieces of the puzzle came together, Garcia took his findings public by publishing articles.
Garcia pointed out that residents are “paying approximately $20m per year (to pay off a $57m expense) and they continue to pay the maximum tax rate allowed by law, or they are subject to fines, penalties, liens, or even worse, property seizure.”
He outlined the timeline and key changes made to the original agreement over time. And the lack of transparency. “No financial statements are publicly available between 1993 and 2009.”
Garcia raised questions, such as, “Why were the metro bond tax terms modified without the knowledge or approval of the property owners on December 1, 1993?”
His articles reveal the power structure designed to limit residents’ knowledge or ability to act: “The developer continues to retain a majority of the board seats with all 7 metro districts 35+ years after the project began in the 1980’s. As such, the developer continues to control a majority of the metro tax money collected. In The Meadows, the bondholder, the developer and the board members are all closely related entities.”
The bondholder and developer aren’t just financially connected—Garcia shared they also operate from the same building.
Additionally, Garcia explained how records didn’t match up. “The bonds filed on 12/1/1993 are NOT the agreed upon terms with the Town of Castle Rock. The developer registered legal filings contradict the 10/1/1993 Service Plan Agreement.”
His disclosure about the Metro District’s legal structure speaks for itself. “Yes, one law firm represents all parties and has represented all parties since the original filings in the 1980s.”
He knows this firsthand because he reached out to the law firm to obtain documents. During his research, a reference in the December filing suggested a November 1993 revision, but Garcia found no record of it.
“The December 1 document says there was a revised service plan in November that changed the October 1 terms,” he said. “It took me two and a half, three months to get [a reply],” he said. “I just kept asking for the November 1st service plan. Finally, she admitted, ‘We don’t have it. It doesn’t exist.’”
That was the moment it all clicked for Garcia. “They made up a story to fit their narrative.”
To prove it, Garcia compiled his findings and posted them publicly through a Dropbox link.
He also issued a call to action. “The only district which is filled with residents and not the developer is District 1. With a combined majority of the boards, the residents can pull together as a community and fix this problem.”
Determined to reach homeowners, he dug through public records, mapped out the district himself and mailed letters to 7,500 homes across all seven districts.
And he footed the bill. “Yes, I did. I paid for everything myself,” Garcia said.
When asked how much it cost, he laughed. “I don’t even know anymore. I don’t even tell my wife anymore,” he said. “She just says, ‘I love you’ and keeps on walking.”
Garcia has also spoken with elected officials. With the help of Douglas Co. Rep. Max Brooks, he met with the Castle Rock Mayor, Town Attorney and Director of Finance. “Here’s their official position. Number one, it’s not the town’s debt, it’s the homeowners’ debt, so they’re not getting involved. Number two, the Metro board is a separate government, so they won’t interfere. And number three, the statute of limitations has run out, so there’s no action to be taken.”
The documents he obtained told a different story than the town’s official stance.
“I told them, ‘Your write-up is 100% wrong,'” Garcia said. “I did a CORA request with you, the state and I got a bunch of documents from the attorneys. You guys don’t have the documents. How do you not have records on a billion-dollar bill?'”
Follow up meetings and presentations with the Council and District Board Members by Garcia and other residents have met with indifference.
Still, his findings are gaining traction. CBS News recently picked up the story. And residents began filing petitions for MMD board director elections which will be held on May 6.
Yet many who filed for MMD board seats had their nomination petitions rejected. Candidates in District 4 were disqualified outright, while in District 5, the bondholder and developer’s legal team blocked others.
“We had five people file for the board in District 4, and every single one was rejected,” Garcia said.
Residents who filed for seats In District 5 were also denied.
“[Residents from a newly built apartment complex in District 5] submitted five forms, and they rejected three,” Garcia said. “The law doesn’t say you have to be a registered voter at the property, just a resident. We even submitted a copy of the lease, and they still rejected it.”
Election interference complaints have been filed with the Colorado Secretary of State, and conflict of interest complaints have been brought to the Attorney General.
The Secretary of State’s office has not responded to a request from Rocky Mountain Voice for comment. The Attorney General’s office declined to say whether it is investigating, stating, “The attorney general’s office cannot confirm or otherwise comment on an investigation.”
For now, the MMD remains locked in developer and bondholder control.
“People keep asking, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Because I don’t want to pay $2,000 a year into a black hole. I guess I was in the right position to see that something’s wrong. You know the saying, “See something, say something”? I saw something wrong, and I said something. Nobody else has figured this out in 35 years.”
Garcia shares updates with residents—those interested can email [email protected] to be added to the list.
“This is about more than just taxes. It’s about homeowners having a right to control their own community,” Garcia added.