Denver weighs significant raises for Mayor Mike Johnston’s appointees amid tough budget projections

Denver city leaders are considering giving critical raises including one boost to of Mayor Mike Johnston s appointees with the proposals clearing a City Council committee Tuesday The positions are executive director jobs or the equivalents across city departments that are set out in the city charter and they haven t received any type of raise in three years Their salaries are set in city ordinance requiring council action for changes Tuesday s committee meeting on the raises came a week after the city s Department of Finance gave a bleak projection for the city budget next year as authorities begin the budget-drafting process The budget will have to be as flat as manageable because of stagnating revenue combined with limited dollars in the city s reserves according to Justin Sykes the city s budget director But city functionaries notified council members Tuesday that it was critical to review the salaries periodically What this allows us to do is keep competitive as an employer for these positions and it allows us to attract and retain top talent which is critical for roles like this commented Carla Anthony with the city s Office of Human Support The raises would go to the city attorney along with the heads of other departments that deal with licensing planning citizens vitality the airport transportation finance buildings human services parks citizens safety and population partnerships The greater part of the proposed raises are based on a arena analysis completed last fall that analyzed salaries in comparable cities The largest adjustment would be for the city s chief financial officer who would receive an additional annually or a nearly increase for a new salary of about The rest of the raises would range from to increases The highest-paid appointee would be the manager of the Department of Aviation the CEO of Denver International Airport Phil Washington He would make more per year a increase or about annually under the proposal The city historically has calculated raises for that position using a slightly different method than for others explained the city s compensation advisor Blair Malloy during the committee meeting Related Articles Denver won t extend contract for license-plate readers But cameras at intersections aren t coming down soon Will a NWSL stadium benefit Denver businesses Experts debate if city s million assets plan will pay off These landlords accrued years of complaints and serious vitality violations Denver handed them rental licenses anyway Trump Department of Justice sues Colorado Denver leaders over immigration laws Denver school board extends Superintendent Alex Marrero s contract makes it harder to fire him The total annual cost of the raises would be about and would mostly come from the mayor s office budget The DIA position s increase would come from the city s enterprise fund Given the city s budget outlook Councilwoman Shontel Lewis questioned during the meeting whether this was the right year for the increases Is this the right time to do this Or is there an opportunity for us to look maybe down the road when we maybe have a little more certainty in terms of our budget she sought Other council members including Paul Kashmann noted they were also considering the timing Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer responded to those concerns There is never a good time to have this conversation she declared But also we have to pay our people fairly The full council is set to consider the proposal May and take a final vote June Proposed salary increases Denver city department heads would receive varying increases in salary under a proposal advanced by a committee Tuesday Phil Washington CEO of Denver International Airport up City attorney occupied by Katie McLoughlin on an acting basis up Nicole Doheny chief financial officer up Armando Saldate executive director of Constituents Safety up Amy Ford executive director of Transportation and Infrastructure up Anne-Marie Braga executive director of Denver Human Services up Al Gardner executive director of General Services up Manish Kumar executive director of Region Planning and Expansion up Karin McGowan executive director of Citizens Wellbeing and Atmosphere up Jolon Clark executive director of Parks and Recreation up Molly Duplechian executive director of Excise and Licenses up Perla Gheiler executive director of Human Rights and Area Partnerships up Source Denver City Council presentation Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot