Denver staff propose renaming Department of Excise and Licenses to Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection

Denver City Council committee members heard a proposal to rename the Department of Excise and Licenses to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection and to update corresponding charter and municipal code language.

The presentation came July 1 before the Business, Arts, Workforce, Climate and Aviation Services Committee. Molly Duplacheyne, executive director of Excise and Licenses, told the panel that the department is proposing the change “to change the name of the Department of Excise and Licenses to, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection.” She said the rename aims to make the department’s purpose clearer to the public and to remove an outdated reference to excise taxes that the department does not administer.

The proposed package consists of two bills: a charter amendment that, if approved by council, would place the question before Denver voters; and a companion municipal code bill that would update code language and titles across city documents. Duplacheyne said the companion bill (referred to in the presentation as “1003”) is primarily a thorough find-and-replace across roughly 130 pages of code and would not add new authorities to the department.

Why it matters: Committee chair Councilmember Shantel M. Lewis (District 8) and staff framed the change as a clarification for residents and businesses. Duplacheyne said the department currently issues more than 100 different business and occupational license types and handles more than 50,000 active licenses a year; adding “consumer protection” to the department name, she said, better reflects the agency’s safety and consumer-facing work.

What would change: Staff said the charter language would remove references to excise taxes (tax administration remains with the Department of Finance) and update titles so the head of the agency is consistent with other cabinet-level managers (the presentation uses “manager” instead of “executive director” in amended charter text). Duplacheyne and Erica Rogers, policy director of Excise and Licenses, emphasized the proposal is intended to modernize and simplify language, not to expand the department’s authority.

Timing and costs: Duplacheyne said staff plan to file the charter bill for first reading “this coming Monday” and noted the charter amendment would go on the November ballot if council approves placement; the presentation named the November 4 election date as the target for the public vote. Staff told the committee they do not expect additional budgetary costs for implementation, saying website, stationery and signage updates would be done internally as items are replaced rather than by purchasing new inventory immediately.

Public-facing tools: Duplacheyne said the department recently relaunched its complaint intake as a “consumer protection complaint intake portal” and plans to use intake data to identify regulatory gaps and make targeted regulatory or education changes. She said the portal will include guidance on what the department can and cannot handle and will include referral pathways to other agencies when appropriate.

Council response: Councilwoman Leslie Gilmore (co-sponsor) said she was “really happy to support the name change.” Councilman Kevin Flynn (District 2) pressed staff on cost estimates; Duplacheyne reiterated that changes would use existing internal resources. Councilmember Rola Alvidrez (District 7) and others asked about outreach and education; staff said email bulletins and other outreach are available and that the intake portal itself lists common complaints and referral information.

Next steps: Staff presented two separate ordinance files for committee consideration (the charter placement and the companion code changes). The transcript does not record a formal committee vote on the name-change bills during this meeting. The charter amendment, if approved by council for placement, would only take effect if approved by voters at a future election.