Elected Salaries

Shall the Charter of the City and County of Denver be amended to remove the requirement that City Council vote on elected official salaries every four years prior to the general election and to remove discretion in setting the salaries, and instead require that the salaries be as stated in ordinance, and any future adjustments shall continue to be the lesser of either the CPI increase for the Denver Metro Area or the cumulative percentage change for Career Service Denver employees?

Council member Sawyer is proposing an amendment to the City Charter, which would alter the process by which elected officials' salaries are determined. Under this amendment, instead of City Council voting on elected officials' salaries, salaries will be set by a vote of the people.

Proposed salaries would be set per an existing formula in charter which is the average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPIU) in Denver or the average pay increase for other city workers, whichever is lower.

The rationale behind this proposed change is to address concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest inherent in City Council members voting on their own salaries. By entrusting this decision to the voters, we aim to enhance transparency and accountability in the process of determining elected officials' compensation.

Research showed our peer cities generally use three specific processes in which elected officials’ compensation are addressed:

1. External commissions
2. Tying salaries to other regional elected officials
3. Using set formulae to determine salaries

Nine peer cities were looked at in the research. Those cities were:

• Baltimore, MD
• Columbus, OH
• Detroit, MI
• San Francisco, CA
• Jacksonville, FL
• Memphis, TN
• San Diego, CA
• Indianapolis, IN
• Philadelphia, PA

An ad hoc commission or civil service commission evaluates salaries of elected officials and recommends changes

• Baltimore, Columbus, and Detroit all use an ad hoc style commission
  • Baltimore has a 7-member commission with 3 members appointed by the mayor, 3 by council, and 1 by the comptroller. Members confirmed by council and serve 4-year terms. All changes recommended must be approved by council ordinance.
  • Columbus has a 5-member commissions with 2 members appointed by the mayor, 2 by council, and 1 jointly by mayor and council. Council must approve any recommendations
  • Detroit has a 7-member council appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council. Recommendations are adopted unless 2/3 of council reject
• San Francisco uses a civil service commission
  • This commission covers all city employees, and its 5 members are appointed but the mayor for six-year terms

City Council can't use this method because in Denver, the Mayor and City Council appoint the commissioners. Choosing this option would create a clear conflict of interest.

Jacksonville, Memphis, and San Diego tie their elected officials' salaries to a certain percentage of other elected officials.

• Jacksonville's charter states that their council members' salaries shall be equal to 1/2 the salary of the Duval County (their county) commissioner
• Memphis charter states that their council members' salaries shall be equal to the salary of Shelby County (their county) commissioners
• San Diego's charter states that their council members' salaries shall be equal to 60% of the salary of the judges of the superior court of the State of California

These peer cities tie their salaries to county elected officials. Denver is a city and a county so that is not possible for us. Additionally, if we look at the surrounding county commissioner salaries, (i.e. Adams county, Jefferson County, Douglas County, Arapahoe County) all of those county commissioners make more than City Council does. That would mean a substantial raise to City Council, and a raise for Council members is not the goal of this charter change.

• This is currently the practice under the Denver Charter
• Indianapolis and Philadelphia use a specific formula, set in their charter, and adjust salaries each term automatically
  • Indianapolis
    •  Elected Officials receive the same cost of living increases that city employees receive.
  • Philadelphia
    •  Annual salary increases are automatically adjusted by multiplying existing salary by Consume Price Index multiplier, unless the multiplier is less than one, then no change is made.

Denver's charter already requires a specific formula. The formula is the average Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers (CPIU) or the average pay increase for other city workers, whichever is lower. This will continue to be the practice for the City and County of Denver.

Proposed Changes to 9.2.2 

(A) After January 1 of any general election year for elected Charter officers, but before the general election, tThe salaries of such elected Charter officers shall be fixed by ordinance for the ensuing term within the limits set forth in this section. The salaries shall not exceed be the lesser of:

• (i)The current salaries adjusted for the cumulative percentage change over the preceding four years in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, Denver-Boulder-GreeleyAurora-Lakewood, or its successor index; or
• (ii)The current salaries adjusted for the cumulative percentage change over the preceding four (4) years in the mean salary of employees in the Career Service.

(B) Salaries fixed by ordinance pursuant to this section shall become effective on the first day of the ensuing term. The ordinance, once it is enacted, shall be self-executing and may not be modified, repealed or superseded during the term of office

Simply put, no. This is a charter requirement that's been in place for many years. According to the rule, after January 1st of any general election year, the salaries of elected officials (like City Council Members) are adjusted. This adjustment is based on either the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers or the average salary change of Career Service employees over the past four years, whichever is lower. The charter requires this adjustment to be approved before it takes effect; therefore, City Council members must vote on it. This charter change removes the requirement of City Council to vote on their salary, instead making the lesser of the two formula options go into affect because of voter approval.

Their pay will either be the current amount adjusted for changes in the cost of living over the last four years or the current amount adjusted for changes in Career Service employees' average pay over the same period, whichever is lower. This rule already exists in the Denver Charter and the charter change would make this process automatic.

All City Council members, the Clerk and Recorder, the Mayor, the Auditor are all affected by this change.

This issue pertains to transparency and a clear conflict of interest. It addresses misinformation regarding the process by which elected officials' salaries are determined. Simplifying and allowing the voters to approve this process this eliminates the perception that elected officials regularly vote to increase their own salaries every four years, which is not the case.

If the voters approve this measure, this change would go into affect on July 2027.

Any alterations to the Charter are subject to the decision of the people of Denver.