Denver Relo Guide › Brighton, Colorado › Taxes & metro districts
Brighton metro districts and property taxes
The number most buyers find out about too late.
A metro district adds roughly $1,900–$2,300 a year to the property tax on a $550,000 Brighton home — about $160–$190 a month, before HOA dues. Brighton neighborhoods without one run about 0.76% of the purchase price in total property tax. Neighborhoods with one run about 1.10%–1.18%.
| Where | Metro district | Total mills | Yearly tax | % of price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacobs Run (Weld County) | None | 101.886 | $3,750 | 0.68% |
| Pheasant Ridge, The Preserve, HKS, Shenandoah | None | 113.616 | $4,153 | 0.76% |
| Brighton East Farms | Bromley Park MD 2 | 168.116 | $6,027 | 1.10% |
| Brighton Crossing (MD 4) | Brighton Crossing MD 4 | 169.920 | $6,089 | 1.11% |
| Brighton Crossing (MD 5) | Brighton Crossing MD 5 | 174.861 | $6,259 | 1.14% |
| Farmlore (North) | Lakes MD 4 | 178.684 | $6,390 | 1.16% |
| Ridgeline Vista | Ridgeline Vista MD | 180.258 | $6,444 | 1.17% |
| Brighton Crossing (MD 6 and MD 7) | Brighton Crossing MD 6, MD 7 | 180.939 | $6,467 | 1.18% |
Tax year 2025, paid in 2026 — the most recent certified mill levies. Assumes the county assesses the home at $550,000, using Colorado's 2025 residential rates (6.25% for local government, 7.05% for schools). HOA dues not included. Sources at the bottom of this page.
The basics
What is a metro district?
A metropolitan district is a small local government formed to pay for a new neighborhood's infrastructure — streets, water lines, sewer, parks, sometimes the pool and clubhouse. Instead of the builder paying for all of it up front and adding it to your purchase price, the district borrows the money and repays it through an extra property tax on the homes inside its boundary.
That's the trade. Your purchase price is lower than it would be otherwise, and you pay for the infrastructure every year in your tax bill, usually for decades. Two parts show up on that bill: a debt levy that repays the bonds, and a smaller operations levy that runs the district.
Metro districts aren't a scam, and they're not unique to Brighton — nearly every new master-planned community in the Denver metro has one. They're just a cost most buyers don't see until the first full tax bill lands.
The math
How much does a metro district actually add?
Same house, same price, three different places in Brighton.
| Home price | No metro district (Adams) |
Brighton Crossing (MD 4) |
Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $450,000 | $3,398 | $4,982 | +$1,584 |
| $550,000 | $4,153 | $6,089 | +$1,936 |
| $650,000 | $4,908 | $7,196 | +$2,288 |
Brighton Crossing MD 4 is the lowest of that community's four districts. In MD 6 or MD 7 the gap is roughly $300 a year wider.
How the math works
Colorado taxes a percentage of your home's value, not the whole value. For tax year 2025 that's 6.25% for local government and 7.05% for schools. Multiply that assessed amount by the mill levy, divide by 1,000, and that's the bill.
On a $550,000 home in a neighborhood with no metro district: $550,000 × 6.25% × 57.326 mills ÷ 1,000 = $1,971 to local government, plus $550,000 × 7.05% × 56.290 school mills ÷ 1,000 = $2,183 for schools. Total, $4,153.
Add a metro district levying 56 mills and the first half of that calculation roughly doubles. Nothing else about the house changes.
By neighborhood
Which Brighton neighborhoods have a metro district?
This is the part that's hard to look up, and the reason my favorite neighborhoods are the ones they are.
No metro district
About 0.68%–0.76% of the purchase price, per year
- Pheasant Ridge — my all-time favorite, early-to-mid 2000s
- The Preserve
- HKS and Shenandoah — Old Brighton
- Jacobs Run — acreage, Weld County side, the lowest of all
Inside a metro district
About 1.10%–1.18% of the purchase price, per year
- Brighton Crossing — four districts, MD 4 through MD 7; which one depends on your section
- Brighton East Farms — Bromley Park MD 2, the cheapest of the metro district neighborhoods
- Farmlore — Lakes MD 4
- Ridgeline Vista — Ridgeline Vista Metropolitan District
- Homestead — part of it sits in Bromley Park MD 2
Matched from Adams County and Weld County assessor parcel data, tax year 2025. Boundaries follow filings, not street names, so confirm the exact address before you rely on it.
Before you offer
How to check a house for a metro district before you offer
- Look up the parcel with the county assessor. Adams County has a property search; Weld County has a property report. Both list the tax district and the levies attached to that address.
- Ask for the treasurer's certificate of taxes due. It shows every overlapping levy on that specific parcel, not an estimate.
- Make the seller give you the district disclosure. Since August 2025, Colorado sellers of homes in most metro districts must hand over the district's service plan, its debt and levy limits, and a dollar estimate of the district's taxes — at or before the contract.
- Check the district's own website. Sellers are also required to point you to it. Look for the maximum debt levy, not just today's levy.
- On a new build, ask what the levy will be at full buildout — not what it is while the neighborhood is half empty. Districts also apply temporary credits that can disappear.
Or skip all five and send me the address — pulling this is about a ten-minute job for me, and I do it before every offer.
Ask me anything
Send me an address, I'll run the real numbers
Metro district, mill levy, taxes, HOA, and what the monthly payment actually looks like. It takes me about ten minutes and there's no obligation.
My take
When is a metro district worth paying for?
Honestly? I don't love them, because I don't love extra taxes. But they're part of the landscape now. If you want a new house in Brighton, you're almost certainly buying into one, and that's a fair trade for a lot of buyers — you get the new build, the pool, the fitness center, and a neighborhood that's still being finished.
Where I'd be careful is above 1.25% of the purchase price in total property tax. Past that line, it gets expensive relative to the kind of house you could buy outside a district for the same monthly payment. That's my rule of thumb, and it's worth running before you fall in love with a floor plan.
For what it's worth, as of tax year 2025 no Brighton neighborhood crosses that line — the highest is Brighton Crossing MD 6 and MD 7 at about 1.18%. But levies get reset every December, and a district's maximum allowed levy is usually well above what it charges today. That's the number to ask about.
Adams vs Weld
Does the county line change what you pay?
Most of Brighton is in Adams County. North of Road 2 is Weld.
Adams County
- Property tax on a $550K home, no metro district: about $4,153 a year
- Sales tax: 8.50%
- Sales tax on a car: 7.75%, or 8.50% bought from an Adams County dealer
Weld County
- Property tax on a $550K home, no metro district: about $3,750 a year
- Sales tax: 6.65%, or 7.65% where RTD applies
- Sales tax on a car: 6.65%–7.65% — Weld has no county sales tax
Car registration fees and the yearly ownership tax are set statewide, so those are identical on both sides of the line. Sales tax rates as of January 2026.
FAQ
Metro district questions I get most
How much is a metro district in Brighton?
Brighton metro districts levy roughly 54 to 67 mills on top of the base levy. On a $550,000 home that's about $1,900 to $2,300 a year, or $160 to $190 a month, before HOA dues.
Does a metro district ever go away?
The debt portion is meant to end once the bonds are repaid, which often takes 30 to 40 years, and districts can refinance. The operations portion can continue. Ask for the district's maximum debt levy and its term.
Is a metro district the same as an HOA?
No. A metro district is a government that taxes you through your property tax bill. An HOA is a private association that bills you dues. Many Brighton neighborhoods have both.
Which Brighton neighborhoods have no metro district?
Pheasant Ridge, The Preserve, HKS and Shenandoah in Adams County, and Jacobs Run on the Weld County side. Those run about 0.68% to 0.76% of the purchase price in property tax, versus 1.10% to 1.18% inside a district.
Why can't anyone tell me my exact tax bill on a new build?
Assessed values reflect the property's condition on January 1 and a set sales window, mill levies are re-certified every December, and districts apply temporary credits that change year to year. The first full-value bill genuinely isn't knowable at closing.
Do I pay the metro district on top of my mortgage escrow?
It's inside your property tax, so if your taxes are escrowed it's already in your monthly payment. That's why two similar Brighton homes at the same price can have monthly payments a couple hundred dollars apart.
Sources & method
Where these numbers come from
- Colorado Division of Property Taxation — residential assessment rates (6.25% local government, 7.05% school for tax year 2025)
- Adams County tax district data — certified mill levies and district boundaries
- Weld County 2025 Mill Levy Report
- City of Brighton metropolitan districts
- Colorado Department of Revenue DR 1002 — sales tax rates, January 2026
- Colorado HB25-1219 — metro district disclosure requirements, effective August 6, 2025
Mill levies pulled from Adams County and Weld County assessor records for tax year 2025, the most recent certified year, and matched to neighborhoods by parcel. Dollar figures are my own calculations using the state's published assessment rates — the math is shown above so you can check it. Levies are re-certified every December, so I refresh this page then. Portions were drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by me.
Questions about a specific address? Call or text me at 720-685-6233, or go back to the Brighton guide.