City Council may get raises

Proposal would boost salaries annually starting this summer and ending in 2022

A Denver City Council committee voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward a proposal that would raise their own and other elected leaders’ salaries by the maximum amount allowed by law.

Under city law, the salaries for elected officials are up for review every four years. Right now, Denver City Council members make about $92,000; the council president makes $103,000; the auditor and clerk make $148,000; and the mayor makes $171,000.

The proposed bill would raise the salaries annually starting this summer and ending in 2022. The 10 percent cumulative raise is the maximum allowed under city law; it’s based on the increase in the metro consumer price index, a measure of inflation, that occurred from 2015 to 2018.

The average city employee received a raise of about 13 percent in that time.

At a meeting Tuesday, Councilman Kevin Flynn suggested that elected officials skip the raise. “I think we’re very well paid for what the position is,” he said. “This isn’t a career path.”

But other council members pointed out that the change kept pace with inflation and kept Denver in a league with comparable cities across the country and with other counties in Colorado.

After a preliminary committee approval Tuesday, they’re heading to the full council for approval.

Denver elected leaders make more money than many, but not all, local and state legislators in Colorado.

For comparison, Aurora voters narrowly approved a measure to raise council members’ pay to about $19,000, while their mayor makes $80,000.

Denver council members also significantly out-earn state legislators, who just got a raise to about $40,000 a year. The governor makes $123,000.

However, the Denver officials’ salaries are comparable to what leaders make in other nearby governments. Denver is both a city and county, meaning its leaders have extra responsibilities — such as running the jail and some human services — that other cities don’t.

Elected officials in large counties, such as Jefferson, Arapahoe and Pueblo, make $120,000 a year.

The relatively high salaries have arguably changed the makeup of the Denver council.

It pays like a full-time job, and council members generally treat it that way. They spend their days at city hall, keep full-time staffs and conduct much of their business at daytime committee meetings.

Councilman Rafael Espinoza said he supports the inflationbased raise, but worries that council members could grow out of touch with constituents.