Denver Adds Oversight to Three Voter-Approved Tax Funds, Delays Airline Leases

Denver's three voter-approved, nonprofit-run tax funds now share one rulebook: no alcohol purchases, a 1% city oversight fee and aligned spending controls. The Denver City Council passed all three ordinances 11-0 on Oct. 5, 2026. The council also postponed ten airline leases at Denver International Airport over deportation-flight safeguards and approved $500,000 more for an outside law firm despite objections to its GEO Group ties.

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• Three voter-approved tax funds get alcohol bans and a 1% city oversight fee (11-0 each)
• Ten DEN airline leases postponed to Oct. 13 over deportation-flight accountability (11-1)
• $500,000 added to the Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell contract despite GEO Group objections (8-4)
• Caring for Denver administrative cap rises from 5% to 7%; college fund renamed Prosperity Denver Fund

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Tax-Fund Guardrails: New Limits, New City Fee

The council passed three ordinances tightening rules for three nonprofit-run sales-tax funds:

• Caring for Denver (26-1362)
• The Denver Preschool Program (26-1363)
• The college affordability fund, now renamed the Prosperity Denver Fund (26-1364)

The clerk announced each vote as 11-0 (For: 11, Against: 0).

The basics: Together, the funds serve residents from age 3 through adulthood. Because voters created them, "any changes that are made to these 3 initiatives have to require a public hearing," said Councilmember Amanda P. Sandoval. Each bill got its own hearing.

Where things stand: Sandoval and Councilmember Jamie Torres sponsored the bills. They said the original ordinances passed at different times and drifted apart.

• Aligned rules: The bills align expenditure controls, borrowing language from the city's Fair Elections Fund. They also align public-record requirements and administrative funding.
• Alcohol ban: All three bills bar spending tax dollars on alcohol.
• Caring for Denver limits: That bill also bars spending on staff wellness and certain administrative costs.

"We established a dedicated 1% fee for city admin and oversight," said Torres. Any unspent oversight money returns to the nonprofit.

Caring for Denver's administrative fee rises from 5% to 7%, matching the Preschool Program. Its strategic plan must now reflect public input.

Why it matters: The changes follow audit findings. They put three independent, voter-created funds under a common set of rules and give the city a funded oversight role.

The other side: Jesse LaShawn Paris, a public commenter representing the Black Star Action Movement for Self-Defense, spoke at all three hearings. He pressed the council on how misspending was allowed to happen.

"So my question is, what in the future will be done to make sure this does not happen again?" Paris asked. Sandoval answered that the prohibited items are listed in the city's online legislative records. Paris also said he wished a similar fund existed for Black residents.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Four people spoke on the Prosperity Denver bill.

• Angela Casamento, co-chair-elect of the Latinas First Foundation, praised the fund's support for scholarships, mentorship and training. She said her foundation has awarded more than 500 scholarships over 15 years.
• Terry Jackson, executive director of the African American Trade Association, called the fund the key gap funder for youth workforce training.
• Rebecca Arno, CEO of the Prosperity Denver Fund, welcomed oversight and auditing. She also praised the Office of Children's Affairs.

Arno cited an economic impact study projecting that $153M invested would yield $1.25B in earnings.

Before the vote, Councilmember Darrell Watson disclosed his tie to the fund. "I'm honored to be the newest board member of Prosperity Denver," he said.

The nonprofits gain clearer, uniform rules. The city gains a dedicated revenue stream for oversight. Taxpayers get explicit limits on how their dollars can be spent.

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Airline Leases Grounded for a Week

The council voted to postpone Use and Lease Agreements with ten airlines at Denver International Airport to Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. The block covers Resolutions 26-1348 (Air Canada) through 26-1357 (WestJet).

Vote: For: 11, Against: 1 (Sawyer), Absent: 0.

Why it matters: Backers want accountability measures for deportation flights before the city approves the airline deals. Opponents say the delay hurts airlines and the city's business reputation.

Where things stand: An adoption motion was already on the floor when Council President Pro Tem Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez moved to postpone. She cited talks with DEN, the mayor's office, city attorneys and immigrant-rights groups. She said she wanted parameters and accountability measures in place.

Councilmember Flor Alvidrez chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She said she advanced the items out of committee to create urgency, but she backed the delay.

Councilmember Shontel M. Lewis pointed to Ordinance 260684 on deportation flights. She said the ordinance exists but is not operational because no policies were ever put in place to carry it out. She rejected the anti-business label, saying she backed the delay "because I'm pro-people."

The vote came hours after Gonzales-Gutierrez used council announcements to highlight a report. The report, from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and partners, found that ICE operations occur nearly every day in Denver.

The other side: Councilmember Amanda Sawyer asked Dave Laporte, interim CEO of Denver International Airport, whether a vote would change DEN's willingness to keep talking with community groups.

"It does not. We have met with a couple of organizations so far, and we have committed that we will continue those conversations," Laporte said. He added that DEN had reached out to two more organizations over a week earlier and had not heard back.

Sawyer argued that a delay would not change the agreements' language. "We often get accused of being anti-business, and this is why," she said.

Gonzales-Gutierrez countered that those two organizations are stretched thin. She said they "do not want to be an afterthought, as they have been in the past with this administration."

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Councilmember Paul Kashmann backed the one-week delay, saying he always supports colleagues' requests for delay.

The ten carriers now wait at least another week. Immigrant-rights groups get a window to shape the accountability measures. DEN says its outreach continues regardless of the outcome.

What's next: All ten leases return to the council Oct. 13.

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Law Firm Contract Survives GEO Group Fight

The council voted to add $500,000 to its employment legal services contract with Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell (WTO), Resolution 26-1343. The new money covers the Calderon case. It sits on top of the original $470,000 for the Martinez case, bringing the contract to $970,000.

Vote: For: 8, Against: 4 (Gilmore, Alvidrez, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Lewis), Absent: 0.

Why it matters: The vote pitted objections to the firm's clients and its costs against warnings that switching lawyers midstream would cost taxpayers more.

The other side: Councilmember Stacie Gilmore cited WTO's representation of GEO Group and conditions at the Aurora detention facility. "There is no way ethically nor morally that I could ever vote on giving any money to Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell," she said.

Alvidrez objected on process. Substantial work on the Calderon case happened before the council authorized it, and the council was not shown competing firms' rates. "Council should not be put in a position where work has already been performed and we're asking to approve money afterwards," she said.

Lewis called the $800 hourly rate extraordinary. "Are we pushing $1 million in legal fees to save how much?" she asked.

Where things stand: Councilmember Kevin Flynn defended the firm. He noted WTO's pro bono work with the ACLU against ICE and argued that replacing the firm would cost more. "There is probably not a single large law firm in Denver whose client list would pass our purity test," he said.

Watson asked what would happen if the contract were canceled. City Attorney Mieko Brown answered:

• Selection: A five-person panel unanimously chose WTO from four competing firms.
• Rate: The $800 figure is a blended rate. The firm's top partner bills $1,300 an hour.
• Switching costs: Bringing new lawyers up to speed would cost an estimated six figures.

"We will actually spend more money if we do not pass this contract and we are forced to retain new counsel," Brown said.

Councilmember Chris Hinds asked whether WTO's subject-matter expertise made it the most cost-effective choice.

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The resolution passed after the council reconvened from a break. The city keeps the same lawyers on both employment cases. The four no votes show a growing bloc willing to weigh a contractor's other clients, not just its price.

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Minor Items

• Gender identity data ordinance (26-1305): Passed 12-0 on the consent block. The bill covers the voluntary collection and disclosure of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Lewis said the council would "use the power entrusted in us to protect people and not persecute them."
• $375,000 police settlement: The council approved a payment in Babette Norton v. Denver Police Department (26-1466). Lewis said it brings 2026 city settlements to $4,492,000, paid from the liability claims pool.
• Two contracts pass 9-3: A $250,000 extension for Sunny Side Up Solutions' employment brand videos passed over no votes from Gilmore, Gonzales-Gutierrez and Lewis. A contract amendment with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless passed over no votes from Sawyer, Alvidrez and Lewis.
• Tech contracts delayed: A $3.9M, five-year extension for the Citibot AI chatbot (26-1373) and a $5M addition to Slalom's on-call IT services contract (26-1372) were pushed to Oct. 13.
• Proclamations: The council honored the El Grito 5K, a scholarship race co-founded in 1994 by Council President Diana Romero Campbell's parents. It also honored Officer Merle Nading, killed Oct. 3, 1971. "It's been 55 years, and some days it still feels like yesterday," said his widow, Pat Nading-Ahman.

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Looking Ahead

The council holds an all-day budget workshop Thursday, Oct. 8. The ten airline leases and the Citibot and Slalom contracts return Tuesday, Oct. 13. Three bills were introduced and ordered published: Midland Condominiums funding, a nutrition grant and a Union Station permit revocation.