Highlands Ranch Doesn’t Have One HOA. It Has Three Fee Layers.

By Prerna Kapoor, CLHMS | REAL Brokerage | July 31, 2026

If you’ve been touring homes in Highlands Ranch, you’ve probably noticed something that doesn’t quite add up. One listing shows an HOA fee, another mentions something called HRCA, and a title company disclosure might reference a third charge you’ve never heard of. It’s not a mistake. Highlands Ranch runs on three separate fee layers, and knowing which one pays for what can save you from a confusing conversation the week after you move in.

The Metro District Is a Government, Not an HOA

The first layer isn’t an association at all. The Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District is a special district, a form of local government with an elected board and the legal authority to levy property taxes. It shows up on your annual Douglas County tax bill as a mill levy, not as a monthly or quarterly invoice, and the amount moves with your home’s assessed value and whatever bonds or service obligations the district is carrying that year. The district’s money funds the kind of infrastructure most people never think about until it breaks: streets, water and sewer lines, and stormwater systems. If you’ve read up on how Colorado metro districts work before, this is the same basic structure, just applied at Highlands Ranch’s scale.

HRCA Is the Real Master Association

The second layer is the Highlands Ranch Community Association, HRCA, and it’s the one most people actually mean when they say “the Highlands Ranch HOA.” For 2026, HRCA’s total homeowner assessment is $696 a year, billed quarterly at $174, split into $16 for administrative functions and $158 for recreation. That recreation portion funds the four HRCA recreation centers, the Backcountry Wilderness Area, and the roughly 100 community events HRCA runs each year. The administrative share covers covenant enforcement, billing, and the day-to-day running of the association. A handful of subdivisions, including Gleneagles Village, The Retreat, The Villages, and the Gold Peak and Silver Mesa sections of Palomino Park, pay an administrative-only assessment instead, currently $64 a year, since they don’t draw on the same recreation benefits.

Your Specific Neighborhood Might Add a Third Layer

This is the part that catches people off guard. Some Highlands Ranch neighborhoods, Tresana and The Backcountry among them, layer their own sub-HOA on top of HRCA. These village-level associations typically run somewhere between $25 and $120 a month depending on what they cover, often snow removal, landscaping, gated entry maintenance, or exterior upkeep on attached homes. A home in one of these communities can carry a metro district tax line, an HRCA quarterly assessment, and a monthly sub-HOA fee all at once, three separate charges from three separate organizations, each with its own board and its own rules.

What to Actually Check Before You Make an Offer

Ask your agent, or the listing agent directly, whether the home sits inside a sub-HOA, not just whether it’s in Highlands Ranch. Request the governing documents for every layer that applies, not just HRCA’s, since covenant rules and rental restrictions can differ from one village to the next. I’ve had buyers comparing Highlands Ranch against Parker or Lone Tree get surprised when a “similar” home turned out to carry a sub-HOA the other didn’t. When you’re comparing total housing cost across neighborhoods, add up all three layers rather than the one number a listing happens to advertise. It’s the only way to compare apples to apples.

Quick answers

Is HRCA the same thing as an HOA? Functionally, yes. It’s Highlands Ranch’s master homeowners association, but it’s formally organized as the Highlands Ranch Community Association and sits separately from the metro district and any village-level sub-HOA.

How much does HRCA cost in 2026? $696 a year for most homes, billed at $174 a quarter. A handful of subdivisions pay a smaller administrative-only assessment instead, currently $64 a year.

Does every Highlands Ranch neighborhood have a sub-HOA on top of HRCA? No. Some, like Tresana and The Backcountry, do and typically run $25 to $120 a month. Others carry only the HRCA layer and the metro district tax.

If you’re weighing Highlands Ranch against Parker or Lone Tree, my full Highlands Ranch neighborhood guide is a good place to start, and my Colorado metro districts guide walks through the tax side in more detail wherever you’re looking. I’ve also put together a broader Colorado HOA guide if you want the full picture on covenant enforcement, reserve studies, and what a resale certificate should tell you. Happy to pull the actual assessment documents for any specific address you’re considering, no pressure, no pitch.

You can check the current numbers directly on HRCA’s own assessment fees page, and see how the metro district side is typically explained to buyers in this Highlands Ranch metro districts guide.

Prerna Kapoor | REALTOR® | Luxury Home Specialist
REAL Brokerage | 720-949-5450 | info@prernakapoor.com
CLHMS • RENE • PSA • ABR | International Sterling Society Award Winner

Prerna specializes in residential real estate across Parker, Aurora, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, and Centennial. She speaks English, Japanese, and Hindi.