Denver City Council Health and Safety Committee Briefing on Fire Department Audit Findings – June 3, 2026
Denver City Council Health and Safety Committee Briefing on Fire Department Audit Findings – June 3, 2026
On June 3, 2026, the Denver City Council's Health and Safety Committee (Vice Chair Kevin Flynn presiding, Chair Darrell Watson absent) heard a briefing from Denver Fire Department Chief Desmond Fulton on audit findings related to the department's Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) with Glendale, Englewood, Sheridan, and Skyline. The audit recommended improvements in documentation, cost tracking, and advisory board compliance. Chief Fulton agreed with all recommendations and committed to implementation by July 1, 2026.
Consent Calendar
- No items were on the consent calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments or testimony were presented.
Discussion Items
- Chief Fulton presented the financial details of the IGAs: Englewood ($7.3M/year, 3% escalator, through 2035), Glendale ($3M/year, 3% escalator, through 2038), Sheridan ($2.6M/year with tiered escalators, through 2028), and Skyline ($445,000, mills-based, reviewed every three years). He highlighted that these stations also serve Denver—76% of Glendale’s calls and 55% of Sheridan’s calls are within Denver—and provided a cost-benefit analysis showing a net positive revenue for the city after accounting for personnel and equipment costs.
- Council members expressed strong support for the value of the IGAs beyond pure financials. Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer noted the critical role of the Glendale station in responding to a large January 2026 fire in District 5, emphasizing that relationships and response times are invaluable. Council President Amanda Sandoval discussed the risk of losing IGAs impacting Denver's ISO 1 accreditation and insurance rates, noting that some audit recommendations may not account for intangible benefits. Councilman Kevin Flynn questioned the cost allocation for calls into Englewood from the Sheridan station and confirmed reopeners exist in the contracts. Chief Fulton reiterated that the audit focused on process, not the strategic value of the IGAs.
Key Outcomes
- The committee received the briefing as informational; no votes were taken.
- Chief Fulton committed to implementing all audit recommendations, including formalizing renewal processes, tracking costs, and establishing joint advisory boards, by July 1, 2026.
- Council members acknowledged the importance of maintaining the IGAs and suggested future contract language could reduce administrative burdens while preserving flexibility for dispute resolution.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council. Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the uh June 3rd, 2026. Well, the green light just came on again. Welcome everyone to the June 3rd, 2026 meeting of Denver City Council's Health and Safety Committee. My name is Kevin Flynn, and I am the vice chair of the committee filling in for the chair who is absent today. And uh we have only one item, and it's a briefing from our uh Denver fire department uh on the response to the audit findings. And so before we start uh introduce Chief Fulton, I'd like to ask uh vamping for other members. Sorry. Members get here. Let's have introductions uh by members of council. Let me start to the uh to my left. Uh good morning, everyone. Serena Gonzalez Cochez and one of the council members at large. Good morning, Amanda Sawyer, district five. Hi, and we have one member online. Uh, Council Pro Tem. Go ahead. Uh good morning. Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. Thank you very much. Uh Chief Desmond Fulton, the Denver Fire Department. The floor is yours. Thank you, sir. Uh I we the Denver Fire Department uh went through an audit uh related to our IGAs. So Denver Fire provides fire and emergency response to four different areas. We've we provide this for a skyline. Uh we provide this this service for Sheridan, the city of Sheridan. We provide the service for the city of Englewood and the City of Glendale. Uh we met with the auditor for a final presentation roughly a month ago, and uh I wanted to go over the findings. Um, I'm sure you're all well aware you guys had an audit somewhat similar last year, and it's not as easy to express the totality of things when you're limited uh to 140 characters. So I wanted to take the time to ensure that you had a chance to ask any questions and ensure that there's clarity um when it comes to our ability to respond not only to these IGAs but into the city county of Denver. So with that, use yes, sir. Uh introduction and background. Um Denver Fire has had IGAs in place uh for 20 plus years. Uh again, as I stated Inglewood, Glendale, Sheridan, and Skyland Protection Fire District. These are all different links. Um most of these were in place prior to my tenure. Um but um that said we have had a renegotiation with the city of Sheridan and with Skyline uh very recently. Um that as I proceed forward, um, I will go into the specifics of the lengths of these terms, the monetary uh components related to these terms, and then what the recommendations were from the auditor's office and how we plan to comply with the recommendations. Uh Denver Fire Department IGAs, uh Inglewood. Uh, just to give you some perspective, the revenue that we generate from Englewood providing services is 7.3 million dollars a year. Uh we have a three percent escalator on that, and that term goes through December 31st of 2035. Glendale uh the revenue is three million dollars again with a three percent escalator on that. Uh fire protection services go through the term of 1231 of 38. Sheridan, uh the revenues two point six million dollars. A little bit different on this one. There are some different escalators built in. It's a 3% and 26, a 4% and 27 and a 5% in 2028.
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