Glossary & Terms
Words you'll see on this site and in HOA, Metro District and Town documents, explained in plain language.
79 terms
A
Agenda
The list of topics a board or council plans to talk about at a meeting, posted before the meeting.
Allowance
An amount of money set aside in a contract for work whose exact size isn't known yet. Only what is actually used gets paid.
Example: The Landscape & Irrigation contract has a boring allowance for drilling under roads.
Annexation
When a town officially adds land to its borders. Vista Ridge became part of the Town of Erie through an annexation agreement in 2000.
Annual meeting
A once-a-year meeting of all members. At the HOA's annual meeting, homeowners elect board members and the budget is ratified.
Architectural Committee (design review)
A group of volunteer homeowners that reviews requests to change the outside of a home, like paint colors, fences or landscaping, to check that they follow the HOA's rules.
Assessment (HOA dues)
The money every homeowner pays to the HOA, usually monthly or quarterly. It pays for things the HOA takes care of, like parks, pools and the Community Center.
Assessor
The county office that decides how much each property is worth for tax purposes.
Audit
A check of an organization's money records by an outside accountant, to make sure the numbers are correct and follow the rules.
B
Balance sheet
A money report that shows, on one date, what an organization owns (like cash in the bank) and what it owes.
Ballot
The form you use to vote. In Erie's November elections, ballots are mailed to registered voters.
Bid
A price a company offers to do a job. Boards usually get several bids and compare them before choosing one.
Board of Directors
The small group of people elected to make decisions for an organization. The HOA and the Metro District each have a five-member board.
Bond
A way to borrow a large amount of money and pay it back over many years with interest. The Metro District used bonds to pay for building the neighborhood's streets and utilities.
Boring
Drilling a tunnel sideways under a road or sidewalk to run a pipe or line without digging up the surface.
Budget
A plan for how much money an organization expects to receive and spend in the coming year.
Budget hearing
A public meeting where the Metro District board presents next year's budget, listens to comments and then adopts it.
Example: The 2027 budget hearing is October 22, 2026.
Budget ratification
The HOA step where homeowners get a chance to review the budget the board adopted. It is usually part of the annual meeting.
Bylaws
The rules for how an organization runs itself: how many directors it has, how elections work and how meetings are held.
C
Capital project
A big, long-lasting improvement, like replacing fences or rebuilding irrigation, as opposed to everyday upkeep.
CC&Rs (covenants)
Short for Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions: the recorded rules that come with owning a home in Vista Ridge, such as how homes can look and how property can be used. They pass to every new owner.
Change order
An official change to a contract after work has started, for example adding extra work, which usually changes the price or the schedule.
Clerk and Recorder
The county office that keeps official public records like property maps (plats), covenants and easements.
Collections policy
The HOA's written steps for what happens when an owner doesn't pay their dues, including late fees and sending the account to the attorney.
Common area
Land that is shared by the whole neighborhood instead of belonging to one homeowner, like parks, trails and landscaped strips.
Community Center (VRCC)
The HOA's clubhouse at 2750 Vista Parkway, with the pools, event space and resident events.
Consent agenda
A group of routine items, like approving last meeting's minutes, that a board approves all at once with a single vote.
Conservation Trust Fund
Money from the Colorado lottery that local governments, like the Metro District, can spend only on parks, trails and open space.
Contingency
Extra money kept in a budget for surprises that weren't planned for.
Council district
An area of town that elects its own members to the Town Council. Erie has three districts; Vista Ridge is in District 3.
D
Declaration
The main recorded document that creates the HOA and its covenants. Vista Ridge's Declaration was recorded with Weld County in 2001.
Delinquency
When a payment, like HOA dues, is late or unpaid. Board minutes report delinquency as a percentage for the whole neighborhood, never by name.
Design guidelines
The HOA's detailed rules for what changes to a home's outside are allowed, such as colors, fences, sheds and yard design.
Drip irrigation
A watering system that slowly drips water right at the plants' roots instead of spraying it, so less water is wasted.
E
Easement
A right for someone else to use part of a property for a specific purpose, like a utility company running a pipe or the golf course reaching its land.
Elector
A person who is allowed to vote in a particular election. For the Metro District, that generally means registered voters who live or own property in the District.
Executive session
A private part of a board meeting, allowed by law for certain topics like legal advice or individual owners' accounts. Decisions still have to be voted on in the open meeting.
F
Fiscal year
The 12-month period an organization uses for its budget and money reports. The Metro District's fiscal year is the calendar year, January to December.
G
General Fund
The Metro District's main bank account for everyday costs like landscaping, management and repairs.
Golf Play Covenants
A recorded document from 2003 that sets the rules between the golf course and nearby homes, for example that owners accept golf balls landing on their property and that golfers may retrieve balls from unfenced yards.
H
HOA (homeowners' association)
An organization that every homeowner in a neighborhood belongs to. It sets and enforces the neighborhood rules and takes care of shared places. Ours is the Vista Ridge Master HOA.
Home rule
When a town writes its own charter (like a constitution) so it can make more of its own decisions instead of following only state rules. Erie is a home-rule town; its charter created the three council districts.
I
Incumbent
The person who holds an office now and is running to keep it.
Infill
Building new homes or businesses on empty or leftover land inside an area that is already built up.
M
Management company
A company hired to run an organization day to day. MSI manages the HOA and Public Alliance manages the Metro District.
Mayor Pro Tem
The Council member who fills in for the Mayor when the Mayor is away.
Metro District (special district)
A small local government created to build and pay for things a neighborhood needs, like irrigation and landscaping. It is paid for by property taxes on homes in the district. Ours is the Vista Ridge Metropolitan District.
Mill levy
The tax rate on your property. One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of your home's taxable value. The Metro District's mill levy is part of your property tax bill.
Minutes
The official written record of what happened at a meeting, especially what was decided.
Monument
The stone or brick entry signs with the neighborhood name, like the ones at Vista Ridge entrances.
Motion
A formal proposal at a meeting for the board to do something. Someone makes the motion, another member seconds it, and then they vote.
N
Non-potable water (raw water)
Water that is not clean enough to drink but is fine for watering grass and plants. Vista Ridge's common areas and the golf course are watered with it.
NSMP
Neighborhood Speed Management Program: the Town of Erie's program for studying speeding on neighborhood streets and adding traffic calming like speed cushions.
O
Open meeting
A meeting the public may attend. Colorado law requires government boards, like the Metro District and the Town Council, to meet in the open and post notice ahead of time.
Ordinance
A local law passed by the Town Council, like the rule that homeowners must clear their sidewalks after snow.
P
Plat
An official map that shows how land is divided into lots, streets and tracts. Vista Ridge's plats are recorded with Weld County.
Proposed project
On this site, a project that has been discussed or budgeted for an upcoming year but hasn't started yet.
Public comment
The time in a meeting when anyone from the public can speak to the board or council, usually for about three minutes.
Q
Quasi-municipal
Works a lot like a town government in some ways (it can tax and sign contracts) but isn't a town. The Metro District is quasi-municipal.
Quorum
The smallest number of board members who must be present for the board to make official decisions. For a five-member board, that is usually three.
R
Ratify
To officially approve something afterward. Boards often ratify decisions that were made by email between meetings.
Reception number
The ID number the county gives a document when it is recorded, so anyone can look it up later.
Recorded document
A document filed with the county Clerk and Recorder so it becomes part of the public record and applies to future owners.
Reserves (reserve study)
Savings the HOA keeps for big future repairs and replacements, like pool equipment or playgrounds. A reserve study estimates how much should be saved.
Resolution
A formal written decision a board votes on, like adopting a policy or the budget.
Retainage
Part of a contractor's payment that is held back until the job is finished and checked, to make sure any problems get fixed.
S
Specific ownership tax
A tax paid when you register a vehicle. Part of it goes to local governments, including the Metro District.
Speed cushion
A set of raised bumps across a street with gaps between them. Cars must slow down, but fire trucks and ambulances can pass through the gaps.
Speed hump
A raised, rounded strip that goes all the way across a street to slow traffic. Unlike a speed cushion, it has no gaps.
Stakeholder
A person or group that is affected by, or has a say in, what happens in the neighborhood: residents, the HOA, the Metro District, the Town, the county and the golf club.
Study session
A Town Council meeting to learn about and discuss a topic. The Council doesn't make final decisions at a study session.
T
Three-rail fence
The wooden fence with three horizontal boards you see along many Vista Ridge streets, trails and the golf course.
Tot lot
A small playground for young children.
Tract
A piece of land in the neighborhood that isn't a home lot, like a park, a landscaped strip or a drainage area. The tract schedule lists who owns and maintains each one.
Traffic calming
Changes to a street, like speed cushions or narrower lanes, that make drivers slow down naturally.
Transparency notice
A yearly notice the Metro District must publish with its board members, meeting times, elections and how to contact it.
W
Waiver
Giving up a right you would otherwise have, for example agreeing not to ask for money for a certain kind of damage.
Work session
A meeting where a board works through details, like a draft budget, before voting on it at a regular meeting.
X
Xeriscape
Landscaping with plants that need little water, like native grasses, shrubs and rock, instead of thirsty lawn.
Z
Zoning
Town rules about what can be built where, for example homes in one area and stores in another.
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Plain-language explanations to help you read the documents; they are not legal definitions. The governing documents and the law are what count.