Denver Mayor and City Council Briefing on State and Federal Issues - November 14, 2023
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Denver Mayor and City Council Briefing on State and Federal Issues - November 14, 2023
On November 14, 2023, the Denver Mayor and City Council convened for a post-budget completion meeting. The Mayor congratulated the council on passing the first unanimous budget in 6–7 years (since 2017). The agenda included council announcements, a briefing on Colorado's upcoming special legislative session on property taxes, an update on federal budget negotiations, and a move into executive session for collective bargaining.
Announcements
- Councilwoman Alvidres promoted the upcoming Turkey Trot and its mental health benefits.
- Councilman Watson announced a barbershop talk event at House of Hair featuring former Speaker Terence Carroll and Senator James Coleman.
- Councilwoman Sandoval reported that the city school coordinating commission committee passed last night, with a date set to convene in January; she encouraged council members to apply for the two appointed seats.
- Councilwoman Romero Campbell highlighted two local Turkey Trots and a senior luncheon on November 29 at 11:30 a.m. at Welshire.
- Councilman Hines invited the Mayor to the lighting of Denver's largest digital tree in Civic Center Park on Friday after 5 p.m., noting the Christkindl Market also opens Friday night.
- Councilman Cashman expressed concern that the city still lacks funding for critical programs (e.g., after-school programs, rental assistance) and called for exploring new revenue sources.
State Legislative Special Session Briefing
- Adam Berg, Director of State and Federal Affairs, briefed the council on the special session called by Governor Polis for Friday, November 17, at 9 a.m., due to the failure of Proposition HH.
- Property taxes are expected to increase 40–50% due to a cliff from prior legislation; the special session scope is limited to property tax relief and a summer EBT program (to access $35 million in federal drawdown for ~300,000 children).
- Proposed measures include reducing statewide assessment rates, increasing the homestead exemption, and backfilling schools and fire districts for lost revenue. The city's priority is ensuring fair backfill for Denver as a city and county combined, not just a county rate.
- Councilman Clinton (as transcribed) discussed Denver's 2A property tax limit (6% plus local growth), noting that property tax revenues are only about 11% of the city's budget and the city can bank mills for future use. He advised patience until the legislature sets guidelines.
- Councilman Cashman asked about education funding backfills; Berg noted Colorado ranks between 38th and 48th in K-12 funding, 48th–50th in higher education, and near 50th in teacher pay. The negative factor (budget stabilization factor) has led to over $10 billion in underfunded education, as Councilman Sawyer added.
- Councilman Watson asked about senior property tax relief; Berg indicated the homestead exemption is the largest component under consideration.
Federal Negotiations Briefing
- Berg reported the federal government faces a Friday, November 17, 11:59 p.m. deadline to avoid a shutdown. House Republicans proposed a laddered continuing resolution (CR), extending funding for some programs to January 19 and others to February 2, with Israel/Ukraine/border security funding kept separate.
- The Biden administration's $100 billion supplemental request remains pending. Senator Bennett is involved in bipartisan immigration negotiations.
- The Mayor outlined the worst-case scenarios: (1) funding government without addressing Israel, Ukraine, or migrants; (2) funding only Israel; and the best outcome being a joint package including all three. He noted ongoing conversations with Senator Bennet and the negotiating team.
Executive Session
- The council unanimously voted to move into executive session pursuant to DRMC 23-3 C1 and 23-4 A3 and 6 to discuss collective bargaining negotiations.
Key Outcomes
- The council and Mayor celebrated the unanimous passage of the 2024 budget.
- The special session briefing set expectations for the November 17 legislative session, with the city advocating for fair backfill and monitoring property tax relief measures.
- The federal briefing highlighted the risk of a government shutdown and the need for a comprehensive funding package.
- The council entered executive session for collective bargaining discussions.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to this meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council. At this weekly session, city agencies brief the mayor and council members on various proposals and projects across the city. This meeting of the mayor and city council members begins now. Good morning, you all. Thank you so much. Welcome to Mayor Council. Delighted to have you here. Welcome to the celebratory post-budget completion. Mayor Council meeting. Sure. Flora Alvidres, uh, Councilwoman Frey Lucky, District 7. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District Four. Good morning, Darrell Watson, fine District 9. Amanda Sandoval, Northwest Denver District One. Chris Hines, Denver is perfect. Hi, folks, Sarah Parody. I represent the city at large. Paul Cashman. South Denver District Six. We're just pleased to be here. Good morning, Kevin Flynn, Southwest Denver's District Two. Home of the highest natural point in the city. There you go. Jamie Torres, District Three. We're going to start calling Councilman Flynn the highest council member. I think has to be Councilman Hines this morning. You can tell in natural voice. I did. Exactly. Um, great to see you all. Thank you so much for being here this morning. Um, and congratulations, obviously, on all the fantastic work on the budget. Very excited that thanks to all of your leadership. I think we passed the first unanimous budget in six or seven years last night since twenty seventeen. So thank you for all the incredible work you all did to both uh bring your values to life and get to uh I think a document that's gonna be great for the city over the next uh twelve months. And so uh congratulations on all the hard work that thing paid off. Excited to be a part of that going forward. Uh I do want to open up for announcements, and then I'll just give you a qua the your your uh cruise direction for the morning are um now that you've solved all of city government, that's great. We're gonna now take you up to the next level and see if you can solve state government and federal government. Um so we are going to give uh some briefings this morning. One on the special session that's coming up, uh including the debate about property taxes in the wake of of H H's failure. Uh we want to give you a briefing on what we think is coming there, what the opportunities might be for your update information. The second is we do want to give you an update on federal negotiations that are happening of the next three days over both um budget and continue resolutions and some of the things that directly impact our work. And so that's most of our uh update for for today. Then we do have a special session or executive session uh as well um on uh discussing collective bargaining updates. So that's our that's our agenda for the morning. But before we do any of that, I'd love to open it up for announcements if any council members have those that they would like to make. Yes, Councilwoman Alvidres. Um I will just update that next week. Is the turkey trot and training is going strong.
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