"Neither diminished nor enhanced." That phrase comes from the Westerly Creek Metropolitan District's 2026 budget resolution. The board's stated goal is that its mill levy adjustments, and the tax revenue they bring in, stay unchanged by changes in Colorado law, including changes to assessment ratios and any constitutionally mandated tax credit, cut or abatement.

For a buyer comparing Central Park with other Denver neighborhoods, that sentence explains a lot. Since 2024, the state has lowered residential assessment rates to ease homeowners' bills. In Central Park, the largest special tax line is designed to offset that relief on its share of the bill.

The tax certificate arrives before you own the house

The friction shows up during the contract period. Colorado's Commission-approved residential purchase contract, mandatory for use since January 1, 2026, requires delivery of a tax certificate listing the special taxing or metropolitan districts that affect the property. It's due by the Record Title Deadline, and the buyer can terminate if the contents are unsatisfactory. The same contract warns in capital letters that a district's power to issue debt, impose mill levies and charge fees "MAY INCREASE COSTS," and it points buyers to the county treasurer, assessor and clerk and recorder for more detail.

On a Central Park home, the name to look for is Westerly Creek Metropolitan District. Searching for the better-known Park Creek Metropolitan District can mislead you, because Park Creek's own 2026 budget says it doesn't plan to impose a mill levy. Its revenue comes mostly from transfers out of Westerly Creek and other intergovernmental sources. Westerly Creek levies the tax on homeowners and passes most of it through to pay Park Creek's bonds.

The layers on one Central Park bill

The Denver figures come from the Assessor, which lists 27.328 mills for local government and 52.274 for schools on 2025 taxes payable in 2026. As of mid-October, Denver's 2026 general rates aren't final, because the city sets mill rates in December. Westerly Creek's 2026 certificate breaks its 68.514 mills into 2.055 mills for general operations and 66.459 mills for contractual obligations. That contract is the April 30, 2001 Intergovernmental Financing and Construction Agreement, which funds Park Creek's debt service. The MCA assessment for an individually owned for-sale home went from $56 to $58 a month at the start of 2026. It funds management of Central Park's pools, parks, paths and alleys.

Here's a rough sense of scale, with the years labeled. The Assessor's own example of a $625,000 home shows $3,370.82 in general taxes on 2025 rates. Applying Westerly Creek's 67.101-mill rate from tax year 2024 to that same example adds about $2,621. The total comes to about $5,992 before MCA dues. This is an illustration that mixes two tax years. It isn't anyone's actual bill.

Why the state's relief stops at the district line

A Colorado property tax bill is assessed value times mills. Assessed value is market value multiplied by an assessment rate the state sets. When the legislature wants to cut homeowners' taxes, it usually lowers that rate. HB24B-1001, signed September 4, 2024, set 2025 residential local-government rates at 6.15% or 6.25%, depending on statewide value growth. For 2026 it set formulas of 6.7% or 6.8%, applied after a specified reduction in value. Denver's 2025 table uses 6.25% for local government and 7.05% for schools.

Westerly Creek's levy was written to counter exactly that move. According to Fitch Ratings' September 2025 rating report, the 2001 agreement capped the levy at 50 mills, with 97% of it, at least 48.5 mills, reserved for debt service. The agreement also allows an adjustment whenever the residential assessment rate changes. The cap was set when that rate was 9.76%. As legislation pushed the rate down, the district's mill rate went up, reaching 67.101 mills for tax year 2024, collected in 2025, of which 65.088 mills were for debt service. The 2026 certificate is 68.514.

So a lower assessment rate gives Central Park owners a smaller assessed value on both parts of the bill. On the district's part, the mill rate rises by design to roughly offset it. The board's "neither diminished nor enhanced" language says this outright. A neighborhood without a metro district levy has no such counterweight, and that gap doesn't show up in a portal's median price.

The 2026 follow-up law hasn't changed this. Colorado's summary of SB26-116 says it ends the qualified-senior primary-residence classification after 2026 and changes the business personal property exemption starting in 2027. The summary doesn't describe a general homeowner mill levy cut.

What the 2025 refinancing did to the levy

In October 2025 Park Creek closed a large refinancing. Its annual report, published in August 2026, lists $236.865 million in 2025 bonds dated October 15, 2025, with final maturity on December 1, 2044, and yields of 2.71% to 4.42% after premiums. The district's September 2025 certification said about $15 million would be new money for final major infrastructure. The rest would refinance outstanding senior debt and about $400,000 in developer advances at lower rates over a shorter term. The new bonds paid off the Series 2015A, 2017A and 2017B bonds.

Homeowners still saw a higher levy the following year. Fitch's report explains why. The district levies its debt service tax at the maximum allowed rate, so revenue grows only when the tax base grows through new construction and the reassessments held every two years. The assessed value of the district grew at a compound 11.95% a year over the ten years ending in collection year 2024, including a 31% jump in the most recent reassessment. Fitch puts maximum annual debt service at $42.3 million in 2027. Cheaper debt shortens the payoff and strengthens bond coverage. The rate homeowners pay is still governed by the cap and its assessment-rate adjustment.

Two payoff dates from the same district

The 2044 maturity applies to the new senior bonds only. Park Creek also carries a $122 million subordinate bond from 2020 with a scheduled final maturity of December 1, 2051. Westerly Creek's About page says that once development is complete and the Park Creek bonds retire, which it estimates will happen in December 2051, about 97% of its total levy will no longer be needed. The remaining 3% or so covers operations and maintenance of Westerly Creek, in-tract parks and other public facilities the City doesn't maintain.

The district's own Central Park Background document gives a different date. It says a long-term finance plan Park Creek issued in December 2024 projects that its outstanding debt will be paid off in 2034. The published materials don't reconcile the 2034 projection with the 2051 estimate and bond schedule, and the 2025 refinancing came after that December 2024 plan. Until the district clarifies which projection is current, the payoff date is an open question worth putting to Westerly Creek directly. Whichever date holds, the debt portion is built to rise or fall with assessment-rate changes so that its revenue stays steady.

What the seller paperwork does and doesn't cover

Colorado has layered several disclosure rules on top of the contract. Each one covers a different slice:

1. New construction disclosures. Under SB21-262, a seller of property that includes a newly constructed home in a metro district must provide district details before or at contract signing, starting January 1, 2022. The list includes authorized debt, the debt-service mill levy cap and whether that cap can adjust with changes in assessment methods or rates, and an estimated current-year tax amount. Resale buyers in Central Park's established blocks won't get that packet.
2. The district website. SB23-110 requires sellers of homes in metro districts organized on or after January 1, 2000 to provide the district's official website, starting January 1, 2024. The 2026 Seller's Property Disclosure has fields for two districts.
3. The recorded public disclosure. Under C.R.S. 32-1-104.8, every special district must record a public disclosure document and a boundary map with the county clerk and recorder. The document includes a prescribed statement about the district's authority over taxes, debt and fees.
4. The tax certificate. This is the parcel-specific document described above, with its termination right tied to the Record Title Deadline.

Since the SB21-262 packet is tied to newly constructed homes, the statute that spells out cap-adjustment language doesn't reach a resale. The contract tells you how to find the district. The reason its levy doesn't follow statewide relief is in Westerly Creek's own budget and in the bond documents. This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how these rules apply to a specific property with a tax professional or real estate attorney.

Quick answers

Is the MCA assessment part of the property tax? No. It's a private monthly charge from the Master Community Association, $58 a month for an individually owned for-sale home as of January 2026.

Did the 2025 refinancing end any of the debt? It paid off the 2015A, 2017A and 2017B series. The 2020 subordinate bond is scheduled to run to December 1, 2051.

When will a full 2026 Central Park tax figure be possible? Westerly Creek's 2026 levy is already certified. Denver sets its general mill rates in December.

If you're weighing a Central Park home against a neighborhood without a metro district, Alex Reber can go through the tax certificate, the Westerly Creek levy and the MCA dues with you before your title deadline, so you're comparing full carrying costs and not just list prices. Let's Connect.