Denver auditor warns 3% budget cut could slow wage-theft enforcement

At a Sept. 30 Finance and Business Committee meeting, Denver Auditor Tim O'Brien and Denver Labor staff told council members that a proposed 3% reduction to the auditor's office budget — roughly $500,000 — would slow wage-theft enforcement, delay litigation and impede staff hiring.

Auditor Tim O'Brien said the office's 2025 budget is about $16.2 million and that the office expects to recover roughly $2.2 million from airport-related work. "I will be asking the council to restore those dollars to the auditor's budget," O'Brien said, and he argued that the auditor's office must retain discretion to hire to meet its caseload.

The warning came as Matt Fitzmaur, executive director of Denver Labor, described a sharp rise in cases and the office's growing reliance on litigation support. Fitzmaur said the office set a record last year enforcing the rights of 4,505 workers and has so far this year reached roughly 5,800 workers. He told the committee that many of the hardest cases — those that generate the largest restitution awards and set legal precedent — require more litigation capacity than the city's attorney's office has provided.

Fitzmaur described two high-profile examples: determinations issued in late February finding "tens of millions of dollars" in restitution owed to workers at Rick's Cabaret and Diamond Cabaret, and an ongoing dispute that followed a subpoena the office issued earlier in the year. He said the auditor's office is seeking funds to buy litigation capacity — roughly $110,000 to secure a litigator whose time the office could buy at 50 percent — so appeals and hearings can go forward.

Cindy LaBronham, business manager for the auditor's office, told the committee the office is committed to finding savings but objected to a mayoral proposal that would blunt the auditor's hiring autonomy. "We will still commit to save that 3%, but we have to have the authority to determine that ourselves," LaBronham said, adding that current hiring holds and delays in filling vacant posts make it harder to complete the office's audit schedule.

Council members across the committee acknowledged the broader budget pressures facing the city and said they would need more detail before deciding whether to restore the full amount at the council floor. Deputy Legislative Counsel John Figured (spoke as legal counsel to the committee) summarized the constitutional steps under the charter: the mayor proposes a balanced budget and council then appropriates funds, and whether a particular appropriation is "sufficient" would be a fact-based legal question if challenged.

The audit and labor staff provided additional detail on staffing and funding: the auditor's office reported roughly nine currently vacant positions that it had held open to limit personnel costs; the office also said about seven full-time positions do prevailing-wage compliance work at the airport. O'Brien said those airport allocations have returned roughly $2.2 million to the general fund in recent years.

Committee members said they will consider the auditor's request during the council's upcoming floor budget deliberations. O'Brien said he will ask the council to restore the dollars if the mayor's proposed cut remains in the final budget.

Ending

Committee members thanked the auditor's team for their work and signaled that the budget reduction request would be part of the larger budget debate on the council floor in the coming weeks. No formal change to the budget was made during the committee meeting; discussion will continue as the draft budget moves to full council.