We concluded Part Four on Friday with a paragraph from a sample ‘metro district’ resolution shared with the Pagosa Springs Town Council, by Town Attorney Bob Cole, back in mid-April.
At the Tuesday, April 29, joint meeting of Town Council and Town Planning Commission, attorney Bob Cole and Development Director James Dickhoff referred to ‘metro districts’ as a ‘tool’ that could be used by the Town government to encourage development — and specifically, certain types of development.
Namely, the development of new subdivisions within the town limits.
Most of the meeting consisted of attorney Cole explaining options for a possible metro district policy.
During the joint meeting, Planning Commission member Mark Weiler referred to some language in an example resolution:
WHEREAS, the Town wishes to adopt a policy for the consideration and approval of metropolitan district service plans when the development project for which metropolitan district formation is sought is consistent with the Town’s strategic priorities, will result in a demonstrated extraordinary public benefit, and formation of the metropolitan district to provide public services and facilities is needed for the development project to provide the extraordinary public benefit…
What “extraordinary public benefits” could be created by yet another vacant or mostly-vacant suburban subdivision in Pagosa Springs? Because we already have some of those.
We’ll address that question in a moment. But first, a couple of details that might be important to this political controversy. Or, they might not.
When Bob Cole applied for the job of Town Attorney in February 2023, his law firm submitted answers to a number of questions posed by then-Town Manager Andrea Phillips. One of the questions was:
Please disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in the performance of Town Attorney duties by you or any member of your law firm.
Attorney Cole’s law firm, Collins Cole Winn & Ulmer, responded:
Bob Cole has been retained by Straub Services, LLC to assist in seeking approval for and organizing a metropolitan district to assist with infrastructure development and provision of public services associated with the development of the Reservoir Ranch property. If we are engaged by the Town of Pagosa Springs, the proximity of this project to the Town creates the potential for a conflict of interest. Through discussions with Straub Services and the Town if it is determined that a conflict of interest exists and is of a nature that cannot be waived, our firm will be unable to represent either entity on this matter only. We have no other known potential conflicts of interests.
Some clarification. Reservoir Ranch is a relatively large development project, still in the design phase, that could potentially triple the population of the Town of Pagosa Springs, and attorney Cole has been advising the developer on how to organize a metro district to finance the development’s infrastructure.
Metro districts are not currently allowed within the town limits. The law firm of Collins Cole Winn & Ulmer might like to see a change in that policy, to allow metro districts within the Town boundaries… if part of the firm’s income derives from advising developers on the creation of metro districts.
Does this suggest any kind of conflict of interest… to have Mr. Cole advising the Town government on the development of a metro district policy?
Another possible conflict. The Town’s Development Department has already obtained a $2 million grant on behalf of the Dragoo family’s proposed 100-acre subdivision development along Highway 160, across from the City Market shopping center. This grant was applied for and awarded before the Dragoo’s had even purchased the parcel and before the Town had approved any part of the development — a development which is still not approved, to this date. Nor does the Assessor’s website show that the Dragoo family has purchased the land, as of last weekend.
The Dragoos have indicated that they plan to finance the development using a metro district scheme. But as mentioned, metro districts are currently not allowed within the town limits. The Town’s Development Department is working with Collins Cole Flynn Winn & Ulmer to create a friendly metro district policy.
Which is to say, the Town taxpayers are paying a law firm, and the staff of the Development Department, to accommodate the wishes of a private developer. It could appear that the Town of Pagosa Springs is bending over backwards to get this development — currently named ‘Pagosa West’ — off the ground.
Would Pagosa Springs as a whole benefit from a metro-district-financed subdivision along Highway 160?
In particular, what in the way of “extraordinary public benefits” would accrue from the Pagosa West subdivision — and potentially, from future ‘metro-district-funded’ projects like Reservoir Ranch and Mountain Crossing?
Who, exactly, will pay for those “extraordinary public benefits”? The developers? Or mill-levy-burdened future property owners?
Near the conclusion of the mind-numbing, detail-oriented discussion on April 29, the Council finally began to address the central question. What public benefits could be derived from allowing developers to use this ‘tool’ — metro district tax-exempt financing — within the town boundaries?
Only one suggestion of public benefits arose from among from the 10 joint meeting participants: affordable workforce housing.
The Town Council and Town Planning Commission members could clearly agree on that benefit. If Pagosa West and Reservoir Ranch and other future subdivision developments can provide workforce housing that would not otherwise be provided, then maybe it made sense to allow a developer to impose a heavy tax burden on the homes within these new subdivisions.
But that suggests another problem, of course. In what way could the future housing be affordable, when the owners are paying twice the property tax mill levy compared to the homes in other already-built subdivisions, or in new subdivisions that don’t use metro districts as a financing tool?
This question was not addressed at the April 29 joint meeting. Nor did the joint meeting participants discuss the fact that the Town has already obtained a $2 million grant to help fund the only ‘affordable’ workforce housing currently proposed for the Pagosa West subdivision.
As mentioned, my research suggests that metro district tax-exempt financing schemes are being used all across Colorado, even though the original Colorado law that created this type of special district never envisioned metro districts being used in this fashion.
If you’d like some additional reading about the problems and promises of metro-district-funded subdivisions, here’s an interesting PDF.
And here is a horror story of a metro district scheme gone terribly wrong.
And here’s that quote, once again, from the email I received from journalist David Migoya:
Metro Districts are a ridiculously complex area, so I’d be pleased to share any of the snake pits or traps I had to manage because, rest assured, the sharks are circling.
Read Part Six, tomorrow…