“The issue is, it’s very hard to have all these district lines mapped,” Rio Blanco County Assessor Renae Nielson told the HT while discussing the official boundaries of more than 20 special tax districts in the county. The districts exist to manage and operate various local government services, and are primarily funded via property tax revenues, or mill levies.
The map (which can be viewed in the assessor’s office) is one the best tools to explain to residents how property taxes work for individual tax districts. “I use the map a lot, and I show him this is where you live, and this is why you pay into the town of Meeker for example, because you live here,” Nielson said.
Of the 26 tax districts, many follow a simple East versus West divide that is effectively outlined by the boundaries of the Rangely (RE-4) and Meeker (RE-1) school districts. Like schools, these districts offer services to all residents within the larger areas set by the school districts. Districts following the eastern RE-1 boundary (blue line) include:
- Meeker Cemetery District (0.867 mills)
- Rio Blanco Fire Protection District (2.537 mills)
- Meeker Library District (1.016 mills)
- Eastern R.B.C. Public Health/PMC (7.280 mills)
Districts following the western RE-4 school district boundary (red line) include:
- Rangely Junior College/CNCC (6.600 mills)
- Rangely Cemetery District (0.162)
- Rangely Rural Fire Protection District (2.000 mills)
- Rangely Library District (0.5000 mills)
- Rangely Hospital District (27.350 mills)
- Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District (0.623 mills)
Due to an abundance of regulations governing special districts and how they’re allowed to collect taxes, every special district’s boundary is not so easily determined. Nielson highlighted Recreation and Park districts as one example. “If you’re over 40 acres you don’t pay into the rec center because that’s a state law.”
District map complexity increases for districts that offer specialized services to smaller groups of residents. In RBC this could mean districts such as the Lower White River and Piceance Creek Pest Control Districts, Meeker’s Sanitation District, the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy, Douglas Creek Soil Conservancy and White River Conservancy Districts.
Wherever a resident lives within the county, they’ll fall into a number of overlapping districts with varying mill levies. Adding up all those district mill levies will determine the total amount relative to property valuation those residents pay in property taxes each year. For example, those living within Meeker town limits (tax district 1) pay into more special districts than most other residents of eastern RBC for a total of 62.712 mills, compared to an average of approximately 45.4 mills in eastern RBC. The same is true on the west side of the county for Rangely residents in city limits (tax district 10), who pay 71.272 mills compared to the average of about 61.68 mills on the east side of RBC.
Note: You can view a comprehensive breakdown of tax districts and see which special districts your property taxes contribute toward by checking the county’s annual Summary of Taxes at https://www.rbc.us/DocumentCenter/View/3375
SMALL DISTRICT GOVERNANCE
Since they exist solely as a function of taxpayer contributions, special districts are required to be transparent and accountable to the public. This means people have to know who is on each district’s board of directors, when and where those boards meet and what they plan to discuss ahead of time, and contact information for board members. Colorado Revised Statute 32-1-809 covers all of these concerns and more by requiring special districts to provide an annual “notice to electors.” These notices are supposed to include:
- Primary contact information for the district
- Board member names and contact information
- Times and places for regularly scheduled board meetings
- Official locations where notice of board meetings will be published
The mill levy and total collected tax information (ad valorem) from the previous year.
These special notices can be published in a variety of ways, including as a prominent part of a newsletter, annual report, billing insert, billing statement, letter, voter information card or other notice of election. Notices can also be published on the district’s own website (if they have one), or filed with the state’s “special district association” website. The Special District Association of Colorado’s website is SDACO.org
The notice to electors statute provides a special exemption for small districts made up of less than 1,000 people, noting that they can instead meet transparency requirements by publishing a notice in three public places, and with the county clerk and recorder’s office. RBC Clerk and Recorder Boots Campbell said her office does have those district records on file for the public upon request. You can also find information for most RBC boards at https://www.rbc.us/159/Boards-Commissions
This week the HT reached out to some of the smaller districts in the county and searched for information required by state transparency laws. Here are some of those findings:
MEEKER LIBRARY
Primary contact: Library Director Mike Bartlett
Board structure: 5 members, appointed by Town of Meeker/BOCC – 5 year terms, 10 year max
Meeting info: the last Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the Library. Advance meeting notice/agenda is published on a sign at the front of the library
Board Minutes: Available upon request at the library
RANGELY LIBRARY
Primary contact: Library Director Amorette Hawkins
Board structure: 5 members, appointed by BOCC – 5 year terms, 10 year max
Meeting info: the second Monday of each month at 5 p.m. at the Library. Advance meeting notice/agendas are published at the Library and at Town Hall
Board Minutes: Available upon request at the library
MEEKER CEMETERY
Primary contact: Tammy Stout
Board structure: 3 members, appointed by BOCC – 6 year terms
Meeting info: the first Monday of each month at 8:30 p.m. at the Cemetery District office. Advance meeting notice/agendas posting location(s) not found by press time
Board Minutes: not found by press time
RANGELY CEMETERY
Primary contact: Unknown/not found by press time
Board structure: 3 members, appointed by BOCC – 6 year terms
Meeting info: meeting time/location/agenda posting locations not found by press time
Board Minutes: not found by press time
RBC residents can learn more about special districts, find board member information, or even apply to join a board at https://www.rbc.us/159/Boards-Commissions. You can also get more information from the county Clerk & Recorder and/or Assessor’s offices. For larger districts you can also find transparency notices at https://www.sdaco.org/cora
By LUCAS TURNER | [email protected]om
