In Aurora, Part of a New Home's Price Arrives on the Tax Bill

Since a Colorado law signed May 29, 2025 took effect, anyone selling a home inside a metropolitan district has to give the buyer a specific document. It has to include a dollar estimate of the district's property taxes for the year of the sale, a copy of the current tax statement, and a written statement that some actions the district is allowed to take may raise costs for residents. The law is HB25-1219.

In much of Aurora, that dollar figure is one of the largest numbers a buyer will see before closing. Listing portals put the asking price at the top of the page. The metro district levy shows up later, on the tax statement, and it works like a second payment on the streets, water lines and parks that made the neighborhood possible. A buyer comparing a new master-planned community with an established Aurora neighborhood at the same price is often comparing two different total costs.

Same City, Same School District, Different Bills

Arapahoe County publishes a breakdown of every tax area in the county. In its 2025 levy table, two Aurora tax areas share the same city, county and school district. The only difference between them is a metro district.

For tax year 2025, the Southshore Metro District made up 44.73% of the total levy in its tax area. Nearby Tax Area 1756 tells a similar story. It also sits in Aurora and the Cherry Creek School District, and the Highline Crossing Metro District adds 65.947 mills, bringing that area's 2025 total to 145.101.

What the Gap Looks Like in Dollars

Colorado now uses two residential assessment rates. For tax year 2025, the state certified 6.25% for local governments and 7.05% for schools, according to the Division of Property Taxation's October 15, 2025 bulletin. A metro district counts as a local government, so its mills apply to the lower rate. The state's property tax explainer walks through the math: the school levy is applied to one assessed value and every other levy to the other.

Here is our illustration for a home with a $500,000 actual value and no exemptions, at 2025 rates:

1. Local government assessed value is $500,000 × 6.25% = $31,250. School assessed value is $500,000 × 7.05% = $35,250.
2. The school levy is the same in both tax areas: 54.108 mills on $35,250 comes to about $1,907.
3. Tax Area 0084 has 25.046 local mills, about $783 on $31,250. The estimated total is about $2,690.
4. Tax Area 1757 has 89.114 local mills, about $2,785. The estimated total is about $4,692.

The Southshore levy alone adds about $2,002 a year, roughly $167 a month. These are calculated estimates, not actual tax statements, and any specific parcel's bill depends on the value the assessor sets.

At a typical mortgage rate, $167 a month is real borrowing power. A buyer who qualifies on total monthly housing cost is effectively spending part of their budget on the district's bonds.

The Levy Can Keep Rising After the Last Home Sells

Southshore's budget page shows a levy going up after build-out. The district reports that its final new homes sold to owners in 2025. It then set the levy it collects in 2026 at 64.068 mills, the same figure the county lists for tax year 2025. That is up 2.422 mills, or 3.9%, from the levy the district collected in 2025. The district gave two reasons: debt service obligations rising by $182,000, or 5.2%, which accounted for 1.68 mills, and 0.93 mills for anticipated mandatory costs to close out City of Aurora permits on common areas. Those two items total 2.61 mills, more than the net increase, which helped absorb other changes. Southshore Metro District's 2026 budget page lays out the full reasoning.

The rules behind that are in the City of Aurora's Model Service Plan, which the city has required new metro districts to follow since 2004. According to Aurora's metro district page, the plan:

• Caps the levy for debt repayment at 50 mills, with an adjustment allowed when the state changes how assessed values are calculated
• Excludes operations and maintenance mills from that cap
• Limits the debt levy on a property to 40 years
• Sets no similar time limit on the operations and maintenance levy

That is how a district can charge more than 50 mills in total while staying within its debt cap. Painted Prairie Metropolitan District No. 3, in Adams County, is an example: its adopted 2025 budget sets 66.922 mills, with 61.398 for debt service and 5.534 for the general fund, and 1.227 of those general fund mills go to regional improvements. That breakdown is in the district's 2025 budget. Aurora's page also describes the Aurora Regional Improvement levy, which pays for regional improvements through an authority the districts can create or join.

The state's assessment rate matters too. The Division of Property Taxation lists the 2026 residential rate for local governments at 6.8%, up from 6.25% in 2025. The school rate stays at 7.05%. If a district kept Southshore's 64.068 mills for tax year 2026, the district's share on a $500,000 home would come to about $2,178 instead of $2,002, with no vote and no change in the mill levy. Bills for a given tax year go out the following January, so tax year 2026 bills arrive in early 2027.

The Levy Is Separate From the HOA

In many of Aurora's newer communities, the metro district levy and HOA dues are two separate charges. Painted Prairie, in the Adams County part of Aurora, publishes both in its community FAQ.

For 2025, the FAQ lists total residential mill levies of 168.521 to 199.611 mills, depending on the district. The components it names include Painted Prairie Metro District levies from 58.536 to 68.761, Aurora Public Schools at 73.186, Adams County at 27.479, and 1 to 5 mills for the Aurora or Fletcher regional improvement authorities. As a rough estimate, the community suggests annual taxes of about 1.4% of the current sale price.

The owners association charges its own dues on top of that. Its projected 2026 dues include:

The two also cover different things. According to the FAQ, the association handles common-area landscaping, trash, architectural review and some snow removal. The metro district maintains the parks and district property and clears snow from park trails, sidewalks and parking lots. The City of Aurora maintains the public streets. When comparing a new-construction townhome to an older resale, the full monthly cost is the mortgage plus the metro levy plus the dues.

What the Statewide Numbers Show

Southshore is not unusual. Rocky Mountain Voice reported on August 18, 2026 on a June 3 State Auditor report on special district finances. It found 680 districts statewide with total levies above 50 mills in 2024, and 11 above 100. The list included Sky Ranch Metropolitan District No. 3 at 128.670 mills and Sky Ranch No. 5 at 120.482.

The same article reported on borrowing limits. The Aerotropolis Area Coordinating Metropolitan District in Aurora has $104 billion in voter-authorized debt, against an $8 billion cap in its city-approved service plan. Several Green Valley Ranch East and Aurora Highlands districts each reported authorizations of $52 to $64 billion against $4 billion caps. The outlet stressed that these are ceilings, not current debt. The Aurora Highlands Community Authority Board reported $390.5 million in debt outstanding at the end of 2024.

For a buyer, the takeaway is practical. The levy on this year's tax statement shows what the district charges today. The service plan shows how much it is allowed to borrow and for how long.

Questions Buyers Ask

How do I find out whether an address is in a metro district? The City of Aurora has an interactive metro district map with an address search. District budgets, service plans and annual reports are in the state's Special District Document Repository.

What disclosures does a buyer receive? Aurora lists three layers. State law requires every purchase contract to include language explaining special taxing districts. Districts must record public disclosure documents that turn up in the title search. Under Aurora's Model Service Plan, builders must give buyers written notice of the district's maximum debt mill levy. HB25-1219 adds the seller disclosures described at the top of this post, and it requires new service plans to state the maximum term of a residential debt levy.

Does a new law cap what my district can charge? HB25-1219 is mainly a disclosure and transparency law. It also requires districts that must keep a public website to post board members, meeting dates and a contact for residents on their websites. The district's levy limits are set by its own service plan.

This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm the taxes on any specific property with the county treasurer and your own tax or legal professional.

When you're comparing an Aurora new build with a resale, Nino Pepper Real Estate can pull the tax area, metro district levy and HOA dues for each home you're considering, so you compare full monthly costs instead of asking prices. Schedule a free consultation and bring your shortlist.