Colorado Springs to weigh Retreat district’s independence plan
Banning Lewis Ranch district No. 5 wants to manage local services separately, under proposed limits on property-tax levies and debt.
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Banning Lewis Ranch Metropolitan District No. 5 is asking Colorado Springs City Council to approve a plan allowing it to leave the ranch’s consolidated service plan and operate independently. Council is scheduled to consider the request at an Oct. 27, 2026, hearing.
The district serves The Retreat, a 55-and-older community. Under the proposed service plan, District 5 would manage private-road and park maintenance, recreation, weekly trash pickup, snow removal, stormwater-pond upkeep and property-covenant enforcement. Water and sewer lines, streetlights, utility infrastructure and fire hydrants are among the facilities the plan would transfer to the City. The district says the change would not alter its services or obligations shared with other districts.
The proposal sets maximum levies of 50 mills for debt and 20 mills for residential operations; these are proposed caps, not the district’s current tax rates. It generally limits residential debt levies to 40 years, bars sales taxes and end-user debt-service fees, and caps total debt at the original amount of the district’s 2018 bonds, with specified exceptions for refinancing. The plan allows a higher debt levy in a specified circumstance with City Council approval. Bond counsel concluded that approving the plan would not impair the bonds’ security, in an opinion submitted to the City.
A draft resolution would find the proposed plan consistent with the City’s broader special-district policy and model plan. The draft resolution is not an approval; Council is scheduled to consider the request at the October hearing.