Climate Protection Fund - Community feedback
Audit: May 2025

Organizational Culture
Audit: May 2025

Hiring Process
Audit: June 2025

Outdated Infrastructure
Audit: July 2025  

Denver 311 and Select Agency Case Management
Audit: August 2025

National Western Livestock Center Design - Community feedback
Audit: September 2025

Police and Sheriff Civilian Oversight
Audit: September 2025

Certifying Disadvantaged Businesses
Audit: October 2025

Audit Services proactively or at a city agencies' request, prepares several confidential audits, also known as workpapers. Results are shared with the auditee and the independent Audit Committee. In accordance with city charter mandates, the workpaper topic is shared publicly, but the identity of the auditee, the workpaper findings, and our recommendations remain confidential.  

When a third-party performs cybersecurity assessments of agencies, findings remain confidential, but an informational report is publicly provided.

Information Technology General Controls
Audit: January 2025

Microsegmentation
Cybersecurity assessment: January 2025

System and Network Security
Informational report: November 2025

FOLLOW-UP REPORT SUMMARY

Audit Services follows up on all recommendations an audited agency agreed to implement, to assess whether the agency sufficiently addressed our findings and mitigated the risks we identified. This occurs once the agency’s last stated implementation date from the audit has passed.

We communicate our follow-up audit procedures through formal reports describing whether and how each recommendation was implemented or was not implemented, and the risks that remain from not implementing a recommendation it agreed to. Although we track recommendations agencies disagree with, we typically do not follow up on them because we assume the agency took no action. However, if during our follow-up audit work we confirm they took action to reduce risk, we will update the implementation status. The city’s implementation of our recommendations is one way we measure the impact of our audit work.

Great Hall Construction
Follow-up: January 2025
Audit: April 2023

Police Operations and Staffing
Follow-up: January 2025
Audit: June 2023

City Equity Program and Practices
Follow-up: February 2025
Audit: August 2022

Administration of Child Welfare Placement Services
Follow-up: March 2025
Audit: March 2023

Homeless Encampments
Follow-up: March 2025
Audit: April 2023

Woody Creek Bakery & Café Concessions Contract
Follow-up: October 2025
Audit: February 2024

Self-funded Health Plan
Follow-up: October 2025
Audit: February 2024

Construction Contractor Prequalification Process
Follow-up: November 2025
Audit: January 2024

City Council Operations
Follow-up: November 2025
Audit: December 2023

RECOMMENDATION DASHBOARD

The status of every recommendation we have made since Jan. 1, 2020, is recorded and is available in an online dashboard on our website. The dashboard is regularly updated when new audits and follow-up reports are published. Visit the Recommendation Dashboard page to see the tool and all our recommendations.

FOLLOW-UP AUDIT IMPACTS

Implementing audit recommendations can have measurable and meaningful impacts in the city. The Office of Human Resources fully implemented a recommendation about the city’s self-funded health plan resulting in cost savings. An external audit found 614 ineligible dependents were enrolled in the city’s health benefit. Human Resources removed them from the city’s plan and saved over $2 million. 

We observe how risks may remain when recommendations are not implemented. Woody Creek Bakery & Café did not implement one of our recommendations involving unallowed deductions of $197,433.50 for 2023 and 2024. The unallowed deductions reduced the amount of rent it owed the airport and reduced the amount of sales tax the city receives from airport concessions. The airport gets a percentage of gross revenue, but when the total is lower, the airport’s share is lower.  

The Denver Police Department failed to implement seven of its 16 recommendations to improve overall strategic guidance and better recruitment and retention efforts. Its lack of comprehensive strategies to understand and address staff retention could prevent it from identifying issues within its control that leads to officers leaving. 

In a different audit, the city fully implemented six of the 36 recommendations we made about homeless encampments. We did not review eight recommendations related to the Unauthorized Encampment Response Program because the program no longer exists. Because the city has still not identified expenses to track and is still not adequately monitoring contracts or reviewing supporting documentation for invoices, the city cannot be fully transparent about spending for encampment-related efforts and may be paying for services that have not been provided.  

Implementing recommendations can improve how the city uses resources — leading to better services for the public. 

LEADING THE WAY

A national leader in innovative audit technology and techniques, the Denver Auditor’s Office in 2017 launched a dedicated audit analytics team that applies analytics and continuous auditing for general risk assessment and annual planning, along with analytics support for specific audits.

“Audit analytics” means using automation and technologies to assess large datasets in less time and in more reliable ways than through traditional techniques like random sampling.

Audit analytics:

• Applies advanced statistics and data science tools.
• Examines large datasets from an organization’s transactions and functions.
• Identifies inefficiencies, fraud, or data-quality problems.
• Identifies the causes and effects of issues.

In 2025, our team used these tools to explore citywide risks in city-paid airfare upgrades or add-ons, employee mileage reimbursements, and city purchase card transactions. 

The team contributed analytics support to specific audits including the Climate Protection Fund, organizational culture, the Civil Service Commission hiring process, Denver 311 and select agency case management, the National Audit Analytics Western Center design, and police and sheriff civilian oversight. 

Audit analytics is increasingly vital in both internal and external audit functions at private and public audit firms. As organizations move toward fully digitized financial and business processes, auditors must follow. 

There are many computer languages and software programs that auditors can use to analyze data or write scripts — commands that perform a series of tests — to automate the analysis of data. We primarily use the computer language Python to process data.

Using these tools, we can connect to additional data sources, automate advanced analyses, and visualize results. Auditors have confidence in the results of these techniques because — while safeguarding secure data — these tools help clean up datasets, confirm the integrity of those datasets, and assess entire populations instead of relying only on sampling.

The Denver Labor division of the Auditor’s Office enforces Denver’s wage laws to make sure all workers receive the pay they have earned, regardless of income level, immigration status, or industry. We investigate complaints, recover unpaid wages, and hold businesses accountable when they fail to comply with the law.

In 2025, Denver Labor helped recover over $2.3 million in unpaid wages — the highest annual restitution in our history. We also enforced the rights of 7,200 workers. It is money making a real difference for Denver families. To put that amount into context, it is equal to:

• 2,000 months of rent for a one-bedroom apartment, based on an average monthly rent of $1,602 in Denver. Prices are according to Apartments.com, November 2025.
• 5,600 months of groceries, or a full year of food for nearly 470 Denver residents, based on an average Colorado grocery cost of $410 per person per month. Prices are according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and SoFi, 2025.
• 750,000 gallons of regular gasoline, based on an average price of $3.15 per gallon. Prices are according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, May 2025.
  
  

Wage theft remains one of the most common and costly labor violations in the country. Denver’s Civil Wage Theft Ordinance, passed in 2023, empowers us to investigate and resolve wage-theft cases citywide. We use this authority to protect Denver’s workforce from:

• Minimum wage violations – paying workers less than Denver’s required minimum wage rate.
• Overtime violations – failing to pay time-and-a-half for overtime hours.
• Off-the-clock work – requiring workers to perform duties before or after their  paid shifts.
• Meal break violations – denying workers legally required meal breaks.
• Paid sick and safe leave violations – denying workers their accrued leave.
• Illegal deductions – making unauthorized deductions for equipment, uniforms, or training.
• Worker misclassification – wrongly labeling employees as independent contractors to avoid paying legal wages or benefits.

We continued enforcing Denver’s minimum wage, which was $18.81 per hour in 2025. This annual adjustment — set by Denver's Department of Finance — reflects changes in inflation and the cost of living in Denver. While the Finance Department calculates the rate,

Denver Labor is responsible for enforcing the city’s minimum wage law.

Denver Labor also enforces prevailing wage, which is explained further below on this webpage.

Every dollar we recover represents accountability and fairness — and every case reaffirms our mission to ensure that all Denver workers are paid what they have earned.  

Civil wage theft — when a worker is not paid wages as promised and required by law — is one of the most common labor violations in the country.

We investigate 100% of the wage complaints we receive and our data shows civil wage theft is a persistent issue in Denver.

 

In 2025, the $2.3 million in restitution we recovered came from a range of industries:

• Hospitality – including restaurants, bars, and catering services — accounted for a large share of cases and often involved underpaid servers, dishwashers, and kitchen staff.
• Cleaning and maintenance — including janitorial, building services, and residential cleaning — frequently involved minimum wage and off-the-clock violations.
• Construction – painting, roofing, and general labor — saw recurring misclassification and overtime violations.
• Personal care and services – including nail salons, spas, and home care providers — saw frequent minimum wage violations and tip credits being improperly used.
• Retail and logistics – from small shops to delivery services — included illegal deductions and missed overtime pay.
• Staffing – including temporary and gig-style employment — involved worker misclassifications and overtime underpayments.

Denver Labor enforces Denver’s Civil Wage Theft Ordinance, which means workers have the right to file wage complaints, ask about their rights, cooperate with investigations, and provide testimony — regardless of immigration status — and we help them recover unpaid wages.

Workers can also submit complaints anonymously. 

The ordinance protects workers against adverse actions or retaliation, which can include threats, intimidation, firing, pay reductions, cuts to hours, demotion, relocation of job tasks, or other negative changes in work conditions. All workers are protected from immigration-related threats or practices. 

Threatening, intimidating, or punishing a worker for reporting wage theft is illegal in Denver. Employers can face significant consequences for retaliation. Penalties can reach up to $5,000 per incident. And workers may be entitled to restitution for unpaid wages, plus interest. 

These protections ensure workers can safely exercise their rights and employers are held accountable for unlawful practices. This is especially important for vulnerable groups. Women, noncitizens, and people of color are more likely to experience minimum wage violations.

In 2025, numerous minimum wage violations we found were promptly corrected by employers, allowing us to close cases without penalties. But in other cases, we imposed damages, interest, and penalties for delayed payments or retaliation against workers.

We ordered Diamond Cabaret and Rick’s Cabaret — both owned by RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. — to pay $13,958,000 in restitution and penalties after we found more than 230 workers, like entertainers, bartenders, and servers, were victims of wage theft. These clubs misclassified entertainers as exempt from wage and hour laws while maintaining strict control over their work, leading to widespread minimum wage violations.

Club owners required workers to pay up to $85 in “house fees” and $8 in “promo fees” per shift, while managers illegally took portions of tips through a nightly “Rusty Envelope” system. Added violations included mandatory unpaid performances, fines for missed sets, and destruction of wage records. Workers reported abuse from customers, including choking and unauthorized filming, which management often ignored.

This investigation set Denver Labor records for the most workers helped, the largest restitution owed, and the highest penalties enforced for a single case. We encourage anyone experiencing wage theft in the adult entertainment industry to file an anonymous complaint at DenverGov.org/StripClub.

The gig staffing industry also is high risk for wage theft. Gig work generally involves short-term or flexible assignments performed by people who, in many cases, are unlawfully misclassified as independent contractors.

We found GigSmart had misclassified workers as independent contractors, denying them benefits like overtime, paid leave, and workers’ compensation. After we investigated, GigSmart committed to ensuring legal pay. We recovered over $22,000 in wage underpayments, plus $4,500 in interest. 

Although the hiring businesses could have been held liable, GigSmart voluntarily took full responsibility — announcing that beginning April 2025 all Colorado gig workers using its platform would be classified as W-2 employees, guaranteeing minimum wage, overtime, paid sick and safe leave, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation coverage.

In 2016, Auditor O’Brien modernized the city’s Prevailing Wage Ordinance. Contractors and subcontractors doing work at, or in connection with, the operation of any public building, or performing public work on behalf of the City and County of Denver, must pay their workers no less than the prevailing hourly wage and fringe benefits for their trade or classification.

Prevailing wage applies to contracts of $2,000 or more for construction, improvement, repair, maintenance, demolition, or janitorial work.

In 2025, we delivered stronger results across every metric compared to the previous year:

• 35% increase — amount of unpaid wages recovered — $1.42 million.
• 34% increase — number of workers receiving restitution — 2,831.
• 14% increase — number of cases resulting in restitution — 792.
• 61% increase — number of workers affected in the year’s largest case — 103.
• 60% increase — amount recovered in the year’s largest case — $185,539.

This upward trend shows how Denver Labor’s collaboration-first approach is creating a stronger culture of compliance — where contractors understand their responsibilities, and workers know their rights.

City contractors are expected to regularly report payroll information to show what they paid their workers. Our bilingual staff review those payrolls and ensure all construction workers on city projects are properly classified and paid.

Denver Labor’s robust educational efforts, bilingual trainings, and direct support for businesses strengthen compliance across city-funded projects. Every dollar recovered represents accountability in a city that values the people who build, maintain, and improve it.

ARE YOU OWED MONEY?

Auditor O’Brien wants to make sure workers receive the wages they are owed according to the law. If you were underpaid at work, Denver Labor might have a restitution check waiting for you. Check for your name on our website.

The Denver Labor division takes an education-first approach to ensure employers understand legal obligations and rights.

Educating businesses is the first step in preventing wage violations. Workers, well-intentioned employers, and the broader community all benefit when paychecks are correct.

Throughout the year, we offer trainings, provide multilingual materials, and engage directly with employers across industries. Auditor O’Brien and our labor compliance analysts regularly visit businesses across the city and at Denver International Airport. Our goal is to educate both employers and workers about wage laws, making our work accessible and building trust to prevent wage theft.

Our website, DenverAuditor.org, offers resources to help workers and employers navigate Denver’s wage laws, including:

• An address finder to verify whether a workplace is subject to Denver’s minimum wage.
• A tips credit tracker for food and beverage
• workers.
• A minimum wage calculator. 
• An underpayment calculator for employers.
• Educational brochures.
• Up-to-date "City and County of Denver Wage Theft Rules."

In addition, Denver’s ordinance requires employers to post a bilingual work site poster — displayed on-site, provided directly to workers, or shared electronically — that includes the current minimum wage and wage theft information. The poster is available for download on our website. Hard copies are available upon request.

Also, Denver Labor hosts a live “Wages Wednesday” series on Facebook in English and Spanish. We provide brief overviews of our work and processes while engaging directly with the community.

Most wage underpayments are from simple mistakes. That is why we prioritize education.

When we find businesses owe significant restitution, we work with them to pay their workers correctly while keeping their operations going. 

When we investigate and resolve wage complaints, we:

1. Receive a complaint from a worker or identify a situation for proactive enforcement.
2. Review the complaint to ensure it meets the initial investigation requirements.
3. Contact the employer to request payroll, worker, and compliance records.
4. Examine all information provided by both the worker and the employer.
5. Determine any underpayments, fines, or damages, and notify both parties if restitution is required.
6. Resolve the complaint and close the case.

A case is closed when the employer either provides evidence of completed restitution or no restitution is required. When there is in-sufficient evidence, a case may be referred to another government agency for enforcement or an outside firm for collection.

Employers are required to maintain payroll documentation for three years for all current and former employees. Required documentation includes hours worked, the hourly wage paid to each worker, any deductions including taxes, and net wages received.

Employers in the food and beverage industry may claim a tip credit of up to $3.02 per hour when qualified tipped workers receive that amount in tips. Unemancipated minors — working as part of a certified youth employment program — may earn up to 15% less than the minimum wage.

Denver Labor performs work site visits to speak with workers. We’ll ask what work they are performing and determine if they are paid according to the law. 

Proactive enforcement may happen if a business shows a pattern of noncompliance in an industry, data suggests minimum wage violations are occurring, or there is credible information from other government agencies.

Denver Labor also uses “up-the-chain accountability,” meaning any employer who ultimately benefits from a worker’s labor may be required to pay wages owed. However, we always first seek restitution from the worker’s direct employer.

We encourage any employer needing guidance on compliance to contact us. Our analysts are available to provide support and ensure that all employers meet Denver’s wage law requirements. 

Our analysts work tirelessly to recover wages for workers protected under the Civil Wage Theft, Citywide Minimum Wage, and Prevailing Wage ordinances. In 2025, we recovered a record amount of restitution for Denver’s workers.

RESTAURANTS AND FOOD SERVICE

Steakhouse returns wages to 30 workers after unnotified tip-out change
An anonymous complaint alleged a restaurant changed the tip-out percentage for front-of-house staff without notice or agreement. The business worked with us and paid $8,468 in restitution to 30 workers.

Restaurant workers recover $70,011 after minimum wage violation
After a restaurant closed its airport location, a worker reported not receiving a final paycheck. We found the employer continued paying 2024’s minimum wage rate into 2025. As a result, we recovered wages for 44 workers.

HOSPITALITY

Subcontracted janitor workers at a hotel recover $2,816
Two janitors employed through a subcontractor were not paid for work on a hotel project. We contacted the main contractor, who learned about upstream liability under the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance and returned wages to two workers.

FITNESS AND HEALTH

Fitness studio returns $25,258 to workers after minimum wage violations
We received an anonymous complaint about a fitness studio not paying Denver’s minimum wage, alleging the business paid per class instead of an hourly wage. After accounting for all the hours worked, we found these workers were paid below the minimum wage. We recovered wages for 46 workers.

Employees at yoga studio recover $16,509 in sick leave
Two employees filed a complaint saying they were required to work while sick due to the company’s lack of a sick leave policy or accrual system. After we contacted them, the employer took immediate corrective action, returned wages to 66 employees, and implemented a compliant sick leave policy.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Art gallery returns $4,675 in illegal deductions and unpaid time off
Two former employees filed a claim alleging their employer made illegal deductions from their final paychecks to cover the costs of changing locks after their termination. Additionally, the business failed to pay the accrued time off balance to one of the employees.

We recovered restitution issued to both employees, including 200% in damages.

Entertainment company pays $5,000 in fines after wage theft and retaliation
A theater worker was disciplined for failing to find a shift replacement when they called in sick, violating Colorado's Healthy Families and Workplaces Act. The employer also did not pay the worker’s accrued paid sick leave. We found these actions constituted wage theft and retaliation. We ordered the employer to pay restitution, interest, damages, and penalties.

PROFESSIONAL AND OFFICE WORK

Remote employees in Denver are covered by the local minimum wage
We received a complaint from an employee in Denver working remotely for a Tennessee-based company. The employee was hired at $16 an hour, below Denver’s $18.81 an hour minimum wage. The employer promptly issued retroactive pay and adjusted the employee’s hourly rate to comply with local law.

PERSONAL SERVICES AND BEAUTY 

Nail salon proactively returns $27,794 to 14 employees
During a proactive investigation, we found that workers at a nail salon were being paid below minimum wage. The employer responded quickly, corrected the issue, and achieved compliance well before our determination was finalized. Their thorough recordkeeping enabled a fast and efficient review.

Underpaid tipped workers at barbershop recover $23,240
We received an anonymous complaint about tipped workers being paid below the minimum wage. Under Denver's Citywide Minimum Wage Ordinance, employers may only claim a tip credit of up to $3.02 for qualified tipped food and beverage workers. During the investigation, the employer voluntarily calculated owed wages, corrected their policy, and issued restitution checks to 21 workers.

PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION WORK

Nearly $45,000 recovered after contractor fails to meet apprenticeship requirements
We require contractors using apprentices to enroll them in an approved apprenticeship program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and to follow the 1:1 ratio requirement — one journeyman for each apprentice.

During a review of a prevailing wage hotel project, we noticed a contractor frequently listing workers as apprentices and we requested federal certificates to confirm the apprenticeship status of its workers. Instead, the contractor provided state of Colorado certificates and followed a 1:3 ratio, which does not meet Denver’s requirements.

Although the contractor corrected the issue, we found four apprentices had been misclassified for most of the project and we recovered restitution.

Misclassified employees receive $185,539 at Denver International Airport
We received a wage complaint about workers on a duct and coil cleaning services contract at the airport. Workers were misclassified and paid the common laborer rate. We confirmed the employees were misclassified and significantly underpaid and we recovered wages for 24 employees.

Read more examples of successful restitution cases on our website.

Auditor’s Office staff meet high standards through professional learning and achievements, industry conferences, staff presentations, involvement in professional organizations, and community contributions.

We proudly accepted another Distinguished Knighton Award from ALGA — the Association of Local Government Auditors — making our audit of Denver’s city shelters one of the best local government audits in the United States and Canada. This is the eighth Knighton Award for Auditor O’Brien’s administration. 

The auditors who completed this award-winning report were Audit Manager Emily Owens Gerber, Lead Auditor Anna Lovascio Hansen, Senior Auditor Danie Pluid, Senior Auditor Jordon Monk, Senior Auditor Darrell Finke, and Associated Auditor Caroline Nelson.

Audit Analytics Manager Chris Wilson and Audit Analytics Senior Heather Burger from the audit analytics team supported the audit’s data methodology. Sonia Montano was the Senior Audit Manager and Dawn Wiseman was the Audit Director for the project.

Some staff members volunteered to serve on either governing committees or participated in leadership roles with the Association of Local Government Auditors. Dawn Wiseman is chairperson of the Professional Issues Committee. Audit Manager Kharis Eppstein serves on the same committee. Lead Auditor June Samadi serves on the ALGA Digital Strategy Committee and Audit Analytics Senior Kayley Smiley serves on the Strategy Committee. IT Audit Manager Peter Ulrich Auditor’s Office staff meet high standards through professional learning and achievements, industry conferences, staff presentations, involvement in professional organizations, and community contributions. presented on Auditing Artificial Intelligence and

Kharis Eppstein and Dawn Wiseman presented on Auditing Social Services topics at the ALGA annual conference. 

The following staff wrote articles for ALGA Quarterly: 

• Kharis Eppstein, Senior Auditor Danie Pluid, Senior Auditor Sarah El Boukili, and Associate Auditor Summer Sargent – “Auditing Organizational Culture.”
• Stelios Pavlou – “Engaging with the public where they are.”
• Peter Ulrich – “Are you and your organizations ready for Windows 10’s end of life?”  

Sonia Montano serves at the federal level on the Comptroller General’s Advisory Council on Standards for Internal Control. She helped revise and update the Government Account-ability Office’s standards for internal control in May 2025.

Valerie Walling serves as vice chair of the Jefferson County Audit Committee.

Several Audit Services staff took part in professional conferences to further their education and expertise. Staff members who presented at conferences included Chris Wilson and Kayley Smiley, who presented “Unlocking the Power of Data” at the Colorado Municipal League Annual Conference.

Lead Internal Auditor Katie Casalino and Senior Internal Auditor Jackson Rossmith spoke to Metro State University of Denver students about our work. 

Once again, we set yearly records for the highest number of cases investigated, the highest amount of restitution recovered, and the highest number of workers whose rights we enforced.

Labor Compliance Analysts Jamie Landa and Christina Ramos attended the National Employment Lawyers Association’s Wage and Hour Update conference, which covered significant changes and emerging trends in labor law enforcement.

Denver Labor staff returned to the LCPtracker conference to improve their knowledge of LCPtracker software. We use the software to review payrolls contractors submit to the city.

Following the announcement of the city’s projected $250 million shortfall, Denver Labor suspended all planned travel for trainings and conferences. The wage theft-team focused instead on internal office trainings, taking part in a total of 46 trainings this year.  

We hosted an Indonesian delegation to discuss strengthening accountability in governance. Marketing and Communications Associate Rocío Arnaz, Audit Manager Kharis Eppstein, Lead Auditor Tyson Faussone, Audit Manager William McLaughlin, and Communication and Reporting Specialist Manda Troutman met with the delegation to share their expertise. 

Communications staff attended the Government Social Media Conference in May for a second straight year to enhance social media strategies, better engage with followers, and share Auditor’s Office successes.

Rocío Arnaz joined the Acceso Advisory Board, which guides the Clerk and Recorder in administering elections that expand voting access for Spanish-speaking communities. The board works to ensure strong language support, civic inclusion, and compliance with voting rights laws.

We are proud to be a leader in accessibility efforts. We have been intentional about making our digital and printed materials accessible for everyone. After Colorado lawmakers passed HB21-1110, which mandates digital accessibility for all Colorado government entities, Communications expanded our office’s accessibility commitment, trained all staff about accessibility, and developed officewide strategies to remediate old and new documents.

Denver’s Auditor is unique because Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, was elected and is independent from all other citywide elected officials and city operational leaders. He works independently from the Mayor’s Office and the City Council to maintain objectivity and to offer frank, truthful reports for the betterment of Denver. Auditor O’Brien was reelected to his third term in 2023.

The Denver Charter provides for the Auditor to conduct:

• Financial and performance audits of the City and County of Denver and its departments and agencies in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards;
• Audits of individual financial transactions, contracts and franchises of the City and County; and
• Audits of the financial accounting systems and procedures administered by the Manager of Finance and other departments and agencies of the City and County, including records systems, revenue identification and accounting, and payment practices.

The Denver Charter also requires the Auditor to follow financial management best practices and any applicable laws and regulations governing the financial practices of Denver.

Under the Auditor’s direction, Audit Services performs risk-based performance, financial, information technology, and contract compliance audits that deliver value and impact for Denver and conform to the highest professional standards. We produce impactful, objective, and quality audits that strengthen evolving city operations and services, and we foster an internal culture of innovation, continuous improvement, inclusion, and engagement.

Denver’s charter further requires Auditor O’Brien to countersign all city contracts to ensure no liability is incurred, no money is disbursed, and no city property is disposed of in a manner contrary to law as it relates to audit access.

Denver Labor, a division of the Auditor’s Office, promotes lawful employment and wage compliance, while actively enforcing wage and hour rights. We educate workers, businesses, and the community to ensure every worker is paid according to the law.

We deter wage theft, reduce the harms of poverty, and expand economic justice through comprehensive wage and hour enforcement and education.

The Auditor is chairman of the Independent Audit Committee, whose primary task is to annually commission, monitor, and review an independent external audit of Denver’s financial statements. Results of audits produced by Audit Services are presented to the Audit Committee and the public.

Audit Services conducts independent performance and financial audits and other assessments of city agencies, programs, finances, technology, grants, and contracts. The resulting recommendations help strengthen governance, improve performance, enhance efficiency, increase revenues, reduce costs and risks, and improve the quality and equity of services for Denver.

Types of audits:

• Performance audits review the efficiency and effectiveness of agencies’ work and the overall use of Denver tax dollars and other revenue sources. 
• Financial audits examine records and processes of the audited fund, program, entity, or account — for example, specific grant programs’ oversight and compliance — to identify reporting and payment errors and to identify other risks to the city and its reputation. 
• Contract compliance audits determine whether city agencies are ensuring that third-party vendors are following the terms of a contract. 
• Information technology audits and cybersecurity assessments review the controls and operations of the city’s network, software applications, technology equipment, and cybersecurity processes to make sure the city’s systems are functioning properly and are adequately protected from security threats.

One of the key audits completed in 2025 was the "Denver 311 and Select Agency Case Management." Denver 311 provides access to nonemergency city government services and information for city residents. Our audit found that without more formal collaboration and case-oversight processes the City and County of Denver may not provide quality or timely services to residents. The city’s siloed approach to managing and resolving 311 cases — coupled with information gaps and informal documentation practices with partner agencies — impact efficiency, accountability, and communication to residents. We recommended the Mayor’s Office identify an individual or group responsible for overseeing the program’s service to residents and that they have the necessary authority to establish agreements with 311 and its partner agencies. The city agreed with all 11 recommendations.

We also looked at the National Western Livestock Center design. The Mayor’s Office of the National Western Center was created to oversee the city’s role in the National Western Center project, including the design phase of the new Livestock Center, the campus hosting the National Western Stock Show. The office is responsible for creating value for and serving the entire community through the city’s investment in this project. The audit found the design phase had inadequate governance, documentation, and project delivery oversight — including not ensuring subconsultants were properly reviewed or competitively selected and not procuring an independent cost estimator for cost validation. We recommended the office be more transparent about contractor bid choice, pay subconsultants on time, and use an independent cost estimator. Despite our audit findings, the office claimed its oversight was adequate and disagreed with seven of nine recommendations.

For every audit, we follow up after the last implementation date given by agencies. The follow-up audit confirms whether agreed-upon recommendations were implemented. We determine whether our findings of important risks are effectively addressed and are providing constructive impact. Summaries of this year’s follow-up reports are in a previous section on this webpage.

Our continuous auditing and data analytics programs provide results for individual audits and help identify high-risk areas for the city by repeatedly performing updated analyses of transactional data from different city databases. Using automation, we sort through thousands of data entries, rather than rely on a random sample. The resulting reports provide us with timely feedback of anomalies or outliers in the city’s processes and transactions.

Our annual audit plan is compiled based on risk assessments of city agencies, finances, and operations; input from community members; information from city leaders; current events; regulatory changes; and other factors.

You can read all our 2025 audit reports and the 2026 Audit Plan on our website.

Auditor O’Brien is the chairman of the Independent Audit Committee. The other six members of the committee serve staggered four-year terms and are appointed based on their accounting, auditing, financial management, or related expertise. 

Primarily responsible for commissioning Denver’s external audit — the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report — the committee also reviews other annual external audits. These include the single audit report of major grant programs, the Deferred Compensation Plan Trust Fund, and external audits of city enterprises like Denver International Airport and the Wastewater Management Enterprise.

Additionally, the committee receives the results of audits, assessments, and examinations performed or commissioned by Audit Services. It works with the Auditor’s Office to issue subpoenas to third-party organizations when necessary to complete audit objectives.

The 2025 members and their appointing authorities are:

• Jack Blumenthal, Vice-Chairperson, appointed by Auditor O’Brien.
• Frank Rowe, appointed by Auditor O’Brien.
• Leslie Mitchell, appointed by City Council.
• Florine Nath, appointed by City Council.
• Reed Hatch, appointed by the mayor.
• Edward Scholz, appointed by the mayor.

In 2025, Prevailing Wage Administrator Luis Osorio Jiménez focused on strengthening wage equity and compliance across the City and County of Denver by addressing the prevailing wage gap, expanding classifications, and improving transparency for contractors and workers.

Key accomplishments included creating new classifications to cover returning trades, like mechanics working on train systems at Denver International Airport, and ensuring essential infrastructure work is properly recognized and compensated under prevailing wage requirements.

The administrator has implemented a new Prevailing Wage Amendment Request Form, which will provide a formal avenue for interested parties to propose updates or amendments to positions covered under the Prevailing Wage Ordinance. This initiative intends to promote greater collaboration and responsiveness in maintaining accurate and equitable wage determinations across all classifications.

Throughout the year, the administrator increased several prevailing wage rates. In many cases, these adjustments now exceed comparable federal levels, reflecting Denver’s commitment to helping local workers keep pace with the city’s cost of living.

With ongoing dedication from the Auditor’s Office — and in collaboration with city agencies, contractors, and workers — efforts will continue in 2026 to enhance rulemaking, wage determinations, and compliance processes, further strengthening fair compensation for Denver’s workforce.

We increase community awareness and support by communicating our impact and value with clarity, accessibility, and inclusion through marketing and personal engagement.

In 2025, we met residents where they live, work, and gather by taking part in 41 community events, including the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Denver Pride, direct trainings at the Mexican Consulate, and wage-theft education sessions with the Denver Housing Authority. 

Our office joined local organizations, neighborhood associations, and small-business owners for lunch-and-learn sessions, resource fairs, job expos, and educational workshops. These events help build trust, raise awareness, and direct people to resources that protect their rights and strengthen our city’s transparency and equity.

We connected with about 350,000 Denver residents in person and reached more than 190,000 people citywide through our digital and social media outreach.

Our bilingual team provided materials in multiple languages, used plain language in audit reports, and focused on accessibility tools for our website and reports.

We posted unique content on different platforms about community events, important city updates, audit information, and labor and wage developments. Key communications were also found on our social media channels, in our monthly e-newsletter, and on our website.

2025 by the numbers (data collected in November 2025)

• Newsletter subscribers: 25,253
• Website page views: 185,150
• Advertising impressions: 52,135,275
• Total social media posts: 1,236
• Total social media followers: 410,674

CONTACT US IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

Phone: 720-913-5000
Email: Auditor@DenverGov.org
Email: WageComplaints@DenverGov.org