Castle Rock metro districts almost $1B in debt
By McKenna Harford
Residents in Castle Rock's various metro districts are on the hook for almost $1 billion in debt taken on to build public infrastructure.
At the Dec. 20 town council meeting, Pete Manger, assistant director of finance for the town, presented a summary on the 37 active metro districts in Castle Rock, which have a combined debt of $943 million as of 2021.
Metro districts are a special taxing entity that can issue bonds to fund infrastructure, such as roads and water and sewer lines. The districts then tax property owners to pay off the debt.
Manger said the metro districts added around $58 million to their debt between 2020 and 2021. He also noted that 48% of the $943 million debt is accrued interest.
Last year, Castle Rock's metro districts collected around $32 million in property taxes, compared to the town collecting around $1.4 million in property taxes.
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This story is from Colorado Community Media. CBS News Colorado is a newsgathering partner with CCM, a network of two dozen newspapers and online publications serving eight metro-area counties on the Front Range.
