2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 32 - SPECIAL DISTRICTS (§§ 32-1-101 — 32-22-117) › SPECIAL DISTRICT ACT (§§ 32-1-101 — 32-1-1807) › Article 1 - SPECIAL DISTRICT PROVISIONS (§§ 32-1-101 — 32-1-1807) › Part 10 - GENERAL POWERS (§§ 32-1-1001 — 32-1-1009) › Section 32-1-1004 - [Effective 8/7/2024] Metropolitan districts - additional powers and duties

(1)
In addition to the powers specified in section
32-1-1001
, the board of any metropolitan district has the following powers for and on behalf of such district:
(a)
To enter into contracts with public utilities, cooperative electric associations, and municipalities for the purpose of furnishing street lighting service;
(b)
To erect and maintain, in providing safety protection services, traffic and safety controls and devices on streets and highways and at railroad crossings and to enter into agreements with the county or counties in which a metropolitan district is situate or with adjoining counties, the department of transportation, or railroad companies for the erection of such safety controls and devices and for the construction of underpasses or overpasses at railroad crossings;
(c)
To finance line extension charges for new telephone construction for the purpose of furnishing telephone service exclusively in districts which have no property zoned or valued for assessment as residential;
(d)
To finance payment of incremental directional drilling costs for oil and gas wells drilled within the greater Wattenberg area, as that term is defined in section
24-65.5-102
, C.R.S.
(2)
A metropolitan district shall provide two or more of the following services:
(a)
Fire protection as specified in section
32-1-103 (7)
;
(b)
Elimination and control of mosquitoes;
(c)
Parks or recreational facilities or programs as specified in section
32-1-103 (14)
;
(d)
Safety protection through traffic and safety controls and devices on streets and highways and at railroad crossings;
(e)
Sanitation services as specified in section
32-1-103 (18)
;
(f)
Street improvement through the construction and installation of curbs, gutters, culverts, and other drainage facilities and sidewalks, bridges, parking facilities, paving, lighting, grading, landscaping, and other street improvements;
(g)
Establishment and maintenance of television relay and translator facilities;
(h)
Transportation as specified in subsection (5) of this section;
(i)
Water and sanitation services as specified in section
32-1-103 (18), (24), and (25)
;
(j)
Water as specified in section
32-1-103 (25)
;
(k)
Solid waste disposal facilities or collection and transportation of solid waste as specified in section
32-1-1006 (6) and (7)
.
(3)
Any metropolitan district providing services specified in paragraph (a), (c), (e), (i), or (j) of subsection (2) of this section shall have all the duties, powers, and authority granted to a fire protection, park and recreation, sanitation, water and sanitation, or water district by this article, except as provided in subsection (4) of this section.
(4)
A metropolitan district may have and exercise the power of eminent domain and dominant eminent domain and, in the manner provided by article
1
of title
38
, may take any property necessary to the exercise of the powers granted, both within and without the special district, only for the purposes of fire protection, sanitation, street improvements, television relay and translator facilities, water, or water and sanitation, except for the acquisition of water rights, and, within the boundaries of the district, if the district is providing park and recreation services, only for the purpose of easements and rights-of-way for access to park and recreational facilities operated by the special district and only where no other access to such facilities exists or can be acquired by other means. A metropolitan district shall not exercise its power of dominant eminent domain within a municipality or the unincorporated area of a county, other than within the boundaries of the jurisdiction that approved its service plan, without a written resolution approving the exercise of dominant eminent domain by the governing body of the municipality in connection with property that is located within an incorporated area or by the board of county commissioners of the county in connection with property that is located within an unincorporated area.
(5)
The board of a metropolitan district has the power to establish, maintain, and operate a system to transport the public by bus, rail, or any other means of conveyance, or any combination thereof, and may contract pursuant to part 2 of article
1
of title
29
. The board of a metropolitan district may not establish, maintain, or operate such a system of transportation in a county, city, city and county, or any other political subdivision of the state empowered to provide a system of transportation except pursuant to a contract entered into pursuant to part 2 of article
1
of title
29
. The board of a metropolitan district not originally organized as having the power granted in this subsection (5) may exercise its power upon compliance with part 2 of this article 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection (5), the board of a metropolitan district shall not exercise the power under this subsection (5) until approved by the district court in compliance with part 2 of this article 1 and unless authorized, at a regular special district election or a special election held and conducted pursuant to article
13.5
of title
1
, by a majority of the eligible electors of the district voting on the question of whether the board should exercise such power. The board of a metropolitan district which exercises the power granted in this subsection (5) shall provide transportation services only in the county or counties within which the boundaries of the metropolitan district lie.
(6)
Notwithstanding anything in this article or any other law to the contrary:
(a)
A metropolitan district may be formed within any part of the area within the regional transportation district, as described in section
32-9-106.1
, for the single service of financing a system to transport the public by bus, guideway, or any other means of conveyance, or any combination thereof.
(b)
A district created pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (6) may be formed wholly or partly within an existing special district which provides or is authorized to provide the service of mass transportation if the improvements or facilities to be financed by such a district do not duplicate or interfere with any other improvements or facilities already constructed or planned to be constructed within the limits of the existing special district.
(c)
The intergovernmental contract required by subsection (5) of this section shall not be required for such a district except where the county, city, or city and county or any other political subdivision of the state within which a system of transportation is to be financed is actually operating a system of transportation.
(d)
Except as specifically modified by this subsection (6), all other provisions of this article shall apply to such a district.
(e)
In accordance with section
32-1-307 (1)
, no tract of land of forty acres or more used primarily and zoned for agricultural uses shall be included in any metropolitan district providing parks or recreational facilities and programs that is organized under this article 1 without the written consent of the owners.
(7)
The board of a metropolitan district has the power to furnish security services for any area within the special district. Such power may be exercised only after the district has provided written notification to, consulted with, and obtained the written consent of all local law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction within the area and any applicable master association or similar body having authority in its charter or declaration to furnish security services in the area. Any local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction within the area and any applicable master association or similar body having authority in its charter or declaration to furnish security services in the area may subsequently withdraw its consent after consultation with and providing written notice of the withdrawal to the board.
(8)
(a)
The board of a metropolitan district has the power to furnish covenant enforcement and design review services within the district if:
(I)
The governing body of the applicable master association or similar body and the metropolitan district have entered into a contract to define the duties and responsibilities of each of the contracting parties, including the covenants that may be enforced by the district, and the covenant enforcement services of the district do not exceed the enforcement powers granted by the declaration, rules and regulations, or any similar document containing the covenants to be enforced; or
(II)
The declaration, rules and regulations, or any similar document containing the covenants to be enforced for the area within the metropolitan district name the metropolitan district as the enforcement or design review entity.
(b)
The board of a metropolitan district shall have the power to furnish covenant enforcement and design review services pursuant to this subsection (8) only if the revenues used to furnish such services are derived from the area in which the service is furnished.
(c)
Nothing in this subsection (8) shall be construed to authorize a metropolitan district to enforce any covenant that has been determined to be unenforceable as a matter of law.
(d)
In furnishing covenant enforcement and design review services pursuant to this subsection (8), the board of a metropolitan district shall comply with the procedural requirements set forth in section 32-1-1004.5.
(9)
Except as limited by the service plan of the district, the board of a metropolitan district has the power to provide activities in support of business recruitment, management, and development within the district. A metropolitan district meeting the qualifications of this subsection (9) shall neither have nor exercise the power of eminent domain or dominant eminent domain for the purposes set forth in this subsection (9).
(10)
(a)
In addition to the excise tax imposed pursuant to article
28.8
of title
39
, a metropolitan district with boundaries entirely within the unincorporated area of a county is authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a metropolitan district excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility. Such excise tax must be calculated based on the average market rate of the unprocessed retail marijuana. The tax shall be imposed at the time when the retail marijuana cultivation facility first sells or transfers unprocessed retail marijuana from the retail marijuana cultivation facility to a retail marijuana product manufacturing facility, a retail marijuana store, or another retail marijuana cultivation facility.
(b)
If the boundaries of a metropolitan district are within a county that imposes an additional excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility pursuant to section
29-2-114
, the excise tax rate imposed by the metropolitan district pursuant to this subsection (10) shall not exceed such tax rate imposed by the county. In no event shall the tax rate imposed pursuant to this subsection (10) exceed five percent of the average market rate, as determined by the department of revenue pursuant to section
39-28.8-101 (1)
, of the unprocessed retail marijuana.
(c)
No excise tax shall be levied pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (10) until the proposal has been referred to and approved by the eligible electors of the metropolitan district. Any proposal for the levy of an excise tax in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (10) may be submitted to the eligible electors of the district at a regular special district election, on the date of the state general election, or on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year, and any election on the proposal must be conducted in accordance with the "Uniform Election Code of 1992", articles
1
to
13
of title
1
, C.R.S.
(d)
Any retail marijuana excise tax imposed by a metropolitan district pursuant to this subsection (10) shall not be collected, administered, or enforced by the department of revenue, but shall instead be collected, administered, and enforced by the metropolitan district imposing the tax or through an intergovernmental agreement with the county in which the metropolitan district is located.
(11)
A metropolitan district created on or after July 1, 2021, shall annually pay the state an amount equal to the total of all ad valorem credits claimed under section
39-29-105 (2)(b)
for property taxes that are imposed by the metropolitan district. The state treasurer shall credit fifty percent of the payment to the state severance tax trust fund created by section
39-29-109
, and fifty percent to the local government severance tax fund created by section
39-29-110
, with these amounts further allocated in the same manner as the gross receipts realized from the severance taxes imposed on minerals and mineral fuels under the provisions of article
27
of title
39
.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 117,§ 2, eff. 8/7/2024, app. to conduct occurring on or after the applicable effective date.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 368, § 5, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 133, § 16, eff. 9/7/2021.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 255, § 2, eff. 6/18/2021.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 299, § 6, eff. 8/9/2017.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 73, § 2, eff. 8/9/2017.
Amended by 2016 Ch. 210, § 94, eff. 6/6/2016.
Amended by 2016 Ch. 110, § 1, eff. 4/15/2016.
Amended by 2015 Ch. 271, § 19, eff. 6/4/2015 and applicable to retail marijuana excise taxes levied by a county, municipality, or metropolitan district on or after 1/1/2014.
L. 81: Entire article R&RE, p. 1597, § 1, effective July 1. L. 82: (6) added, p. 501, § 7, effective April 15. L. 87: (1)(c) added, p. 1239, § 1, effective April 22. L. 91: (1)(b) amended, p. 1070, § 45, effective July 1. L. 92: (5) amended, p. 888, § 127, effective 1/1/1993. L. 98: (2)(k) added, p. 1070, § 2, effective June 1. L. 2004: (7) and (8) added, p. 1065, § 1, effective May 21. L. 2007: (6)(a) amended, p. 834, § 3, effective May 14; (1)(d) added, p. 2122, § 9, effective August 3; (9) added, p. 938, § 1, effective August 3. L. 2008: (1)(d) amended, p. 1082, § 3, effective August 5. L. 2015: (10) added, (HB 15-1367), ch. 1080, p. 1080, § 19, effective June 4. L. 2016: (9) amended, (HB 16 -1011), ch. 314, p. 314, § 1, effective April 15; (5) amended, (SB 16-189), ch. 789, p. 789, § 94, effective June 6. L. 2017: (6)(e) added, (HB 17 -1065), ch. 232, p. 232, § 2, effective August 9; (10)(a) and (10)(b) amended, (SB 17-192), ch. 1641, p.1641, § 6, effective August 9. L. 2021: (11) added, (SB 21-1004), ch. 255, p. 1493, § 2, effective June 18; (4) amended, (SB 21-262), ch. 2430, p. 2430, § 5, effective September 7; (5) amended, (SB 21-160), ch. 543, p. 543, § 16, effective September 7.
The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 1981.
2024 Ch. 117, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2021 Ch. 368, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2021 Ch. 133, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.
(1) For the legislative declaration in HB 15-1367, see section 1 of chapter 271, Session Laws of Colorado 2015. (2) For the legislative declaration in SB 21-281, see section 1 of chapter 255, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.