Denver City Council Meeting with Animal Shelter Presentation and Financial Outlook - June 3, 2025

This meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council featured a presentation from the Denver Animal Shelter on their community programs, followed by a detailed financial outlook briefing from the mayor and finance team on the city's budget challenges. Council members engaged in discussion on both topics, and the meeting concluded with a motion to enter executive session for legal advice and pending litigation.

Discussion Items

Denver Animal Shelter Presentation

• Presentation by Lauren Rolfe and Ada McMurrow from the Denver Animal Shelter highlighted their community programs. Key statistics: approximately 500 volunteers (ages 8 to 90) contributed over 25,000 hours of service in the last year, equivalent to 12 full-time employees. The foster program has 175 foster volunteers.
• New initiatives: Partnerships with Soul Dogs (professional development for people with police experience) and Wild Tunes (live music for animals). The temporary pet housing program supports individuals in domestic violence situations or hospitalization, caring for pets for 2-4 weeks.
• Community engagement: Free public spay/neuter for prioritized communities (any Denver resident can apply), including free vaccines and microchips. The "Pay to Spay" program specifically for pit bulls is donor-funded, with over 300 requests and a goal of 120 pit bulls by year-end. Participants receive a $100 gift card, free microchips, licenses, and breed permits.
• Vaccine clinics at all-in-mile high sites and other marginalized areas, offering free vaccines, physical exams, and microchipping.
• Humane education: Partner of the Year through DPS at Spark Elementary, offering bite prevention, urban wildlife education, and career talks.
• Social worker on staff facilitates co-sheltering collaboration with human shelters and resource centers, and addresses the link between domestic violence and animal violence.
• Upcoming events: Cats on Mats (kittens in community room through September), pinch collar exchange for harness, bedtime stories, St. Pity's Day, Tats for Tails tattoo fundraiser (end of June), and Paws and Pints shelter showcase (September).
• Council members expressed appreciation, with Councilwoman Alvides asking about volunteer process (monthly orientations, applications online, ages 8+ with parent/guardian). Councilwoman Taurus praised the social media and offered to share newsletter content. Another council member noted the community room's utility for meetings.

Financial Outlook Presentation

• Mayor presented the city's financial outlook, citing a $50 million revenue gap for 2025 and a projected $200 million deficit for 2026. The presentation highlighted national and Colorado-specific economic data:
  • Consumer confidence nationally is nearly twice as low as March 2020 (COVID shutdown), with the lowest data since the 2008 recession and Black Monday 1987.
  • Colorado business confidence drop is as severe as the slope in March 2020, with an unprecedented drop from January 2025 to current.
• Revenue trends: General fund revenue growth averaged 5% annually over 14 years, but 2025 first half shows near flat growth at 0.3%, far below the conservative 3% projection. The $50 million gap would have been $100 million without prior conservative budgeting.
• Expenditure trends: 67% of costs are personnel; city employees grew from ~10,000 to ~15,000 over 12 years; contracts and services up 70% over 13 years; total expenditures up 83% over 15 years (budget from $0.9B to $1.7B). The 2025 budget was the first reduction in size and FTEs (0.7% decrease).
• Plan to address: Dual approach: increase revenue through investments (downtown revitalization, National Western, bond projects, soccer stadium) and manage costs. Cost management includes a tiered furlough system (2-7 days), hiring freeze, limited discretionary spending, and contract restructuring. Furloughs: two citywide fixed days (Friday before Labor Day, Friday after Thanksgiving) plus floating days based on salary; senior team takes 7 furloughs, lowest earners take 2.
• For 2026: Focus on right-sizing government to focus on core services, modernizing services (online, tech), and reducing regulatory burdens. The PEAK lean management system (with 1,100 trained employees) will gather feedback from employees and residents via surveys (due June 22).
• Council member Parity expressed concern about framing growth of government as the problem, noting the city's role in supporting vulnerable populations amid federal uncertainty. Mayor responded that the challenge is 0% revenue growth vs. 5% cost growth, and the goal is to protect core services without harming at-risk residents.
• Council member Campbell asked about the feedback survey's wording and audience. Mayor clarified it targets both employees and residents, aiming to streamline services (e.g., permit intake reduced from 28 days to 30 seconds via a tech company).
• Council member Torres questioned impacts on other funds (capital improvement, SRFs, enterprise funds), and asked about staff capacity for bond projects and contract escalation clauses. Mayor noted a focus on all funds and that furloughs are one-time solutions for 2025, while 2026 will involve structural right-sizing.
• Council member Alvides worried the survey might be seen as targeting employees. Mayor gave examples of burdensome regulations (e.g., permit for photos with more than 5 people in a park) that could be eliminated.
• Council member Gonzalez-Gutierrez asked about airport furloughs and vendor contracts (e.g., AEG/AXS kickbacks). Mayor confirmed all city agencies participate and welcomed suggestions on specific contracts.
• Council member Millis asked about guiding principles for cuts and suggested using civic assemblies for public input. Mayor shared principles: equity, core services, citywide priorities (affordability, homelessness, public safety, climate, family-friendly). Also asked about consultant spending and structure of outreach teams.
• Council member Hinds asked about fund balance: expenditures exceeded revenues in past years, filled by fund balance. Current fund balance is below 15% (recommended) and risk of dropping below 10% hard deck, necessitating structural right-sizing.
• Council President expressed concerns about 311 call center blaming city council for service issues. Mayor promised to investigate.

Key Outcomes

• Motion to enter executive session was made and passed unanimously (all in favor, none opposed). The session was pursuant to DRMC 234A, sections 3, 6, and 7 for receiving legal advice and discussing settlement of pending litigation against the city.
• Next steps: The city will continue gathering feedback on budget ideas via surveys through June 22. The formal budget submission to council is expected September 15. The mayor's team will work with departments over the summer on proposals, with regular updates to the public and council.
• No votes on specific proposals were taken during the public portion of the meeting.