Details of Revenue Sharing and Settlement Agreement

by Lane Roberts

Incorporation petitions filed in December 2006 by both Castle Pines North (CPN) and Castle Pines Village (VILLAGE) included within their boundaries the commercial area along Castle Pines Parkway. Colorado law is unclear regarding a situation where simultaneous petitions to incorporate new cities contain overlapping territory. Ongoing negotiations for more than six months have produced a compromise that could benefit both neighboring communities. (The Revenue Sharing and Settlement Agreement was filed with the Douglas County District Court on June 8. As of press time, the court had not made a decision regarding this agreement. See www.cpnpc.org for more details.)

The “Revenue Sharing and Settlement Agreement” signed on June 7 by representatives from CPN and the VILLAGE provides the overlapping commerical area be within the proposed boundaries of CPN - if residents of CPN choose to incorporate. In addition, the agreement also calls for the VILLAGE to withdraw their original petition to incorporate and re-file a new petition with the court which will exclude the disputed commercial area.

If both communities are successful in their elections to incorporate, gross sales and use tax revenues generated from the commercial area located along Castle Pines Parkway will be shared between the two communities if both successfully incorporate within five years. The agreement includes the following:

If both incorporation elections are successful within five years, CPN will receive 80 percent of the gross sales and use tax revenues with the remaining 20 percent going to the VILLAGE.
If both incorporation elections are successful, beginning in the sixth year, CPN will receive 75 percent of the gross sales and use tax revenues with the remaining 25 percent going to the VILLAGE.
If incorporation is successful in CPN, residents would vote to set the tax rate for the community. The proposed Lagae Ranch development (see article page 3) will be included within the boundaries of CPN.
If any commerical development is included in the Lagae Ranch development, it is NOT included in the Revenue Sharing and Settlement Agreement.
The CC-20 development (located on the corner of Castle Pines Parkway and Monarch Boulevard) is included in the boundaries of CPN and is not part of the agreement with the VILLAGE.
If both communities incorporate, the VILLAGE will have the right to review the scale, scope and quality of any future development decisions made by the City of Castle Pines North within the existing shared commerical area.
The obligation to share revenues will expire if one of the two new cities is not formed within five years from the date the agreement was signed (June 7, 2012.)
If the City of Castle Pines (VILLAGE) is never formed, and the City of Castle Pines North comes to fruition, then CPN will retain all sales and use tax revenues generated within the commerical area.
If the City of Castle Pines North is never formed, and the City of Castle Pines (VILLAGE) comes to fruition, the VILLAGE residents would have to vote to annex the business district into their new city. If that succeeds, the VILLAGE will retain all sales and use tax revenues generated wtihin the commerical area.

Representatives from the Preservation Committee are confident this settlement agreement is a victory for both communities as well as the businesses. While the agreement allows both neighboring communities to avoid a lengthy and costly court battle, the future of each community now rests in the hands of voters.