Thursday, September 24, 2026, 1:15 p.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
On day four of budget hearings, the council heard the Department of General Services present its proposed 2027 budget of $70.2 million, roughly half of which covers citywide utility payments. The department described a recent reorganization into sourcing and strategy, facilities/security/surplus, and business services units, a preventive-maintenance shift with a goal of 60% of labor hours on preventive work, and a new competitive security RFP developed with labor (SEIU), small businesses, and agency partners. Council members asked about maintenance backlogs and reduced staffing, MWBE contracting goals, centralizing all city procurement under General Services (with a pilot at the police department called successful), janitorial contract transitions and labor relations, shelter facility spending, and facility reinvestment capital funding. Staff committed to follow up with several data requests, including a full list of facility reinvestment projects expected around November–December.
0:28 Afternoon It Thursday,
0:33 SEPTEMBER 24th. We are in day
0:37 4 of budget hearings and ready
0:39 for more budget hearings, we
0:41 make excited for so that we
0:43 can be rounded out time for
0:44 science. I surrendered council
0:47 representing diverse, perfect
0:51 10. We had pleasure of hosting
0:55 for this round budget Before
0:58 we hear from general services
1:01 go through for decades
1:02 starting with the
1:06 distinguished woman a week in
1:07 rating councilmember Fred,
1:10 like he everyone said in a
1:11 consultative, Candace Campos,
1:12 councilmember at large. Good
1:15 afternoon, Carol Watson, Fine
1:16 District Times, Flynn,
1:19 Southwest numbers, district
1:21 kids extra point for finance
1:25 distant sites, it's getting
1:26 crazy or if it's executive
1:28 director, General Services, my
1:29 problem, deputy executive
1:32 director services a billion
1:36 step. The executive district
1:38 man district kind of earth
1:39 every district plan. Diana
1:40 Romero, Campbell, Southeast
1:41 Denver district Court holding
1:44 a chief financial officer,
1:46 Justin Mayor, thank you,
1:48 Mayor. Thank you everyone for
1:50 being here. Personal services.
1:59 Please take it to review every
2:01 if we have pleasure. Being
2:02 after it was all fuel that So
2:04 thank you again and good
2:05 afternoon to the honorable
2:05 members of City Council, Mayor
2:07 Johnson and on agency
2:09 partners. We're happy to be
2:10 here to present our proposed
2:14 2027 budget with you all. All
2:18 right. So who we are before we
2:20 talk numbers here is a full
2:21 picture of general services,
2:22 which I think is really
2:23 important. So the budget
2:23 decisions and solutions that
2:25 we're bringing forward to. You
2:28 have context. We recently did
2:29 a reordering earlier this year
2:32 so that we can ensure that our
2:34 we identified our agency
2:36 partners in communities
2:38 experience so gives the best
2:39 representation how we have
2:42 been to me or for general
2:44 services. We have our sourcing
2:45 its strategy unit, our
2:45 facility, security and surplus
2:47 unit in our business services
2:50 unit sourcing in strategy
2:52 gives agencies like a 1, 4, at
2:54 front door experience to
2:55 procurement purchasing equity
2:58 is built. And at the start, we
3:00 also have facility security
3:02 and surplus which brings
3:04 building care, access, control
3:06 and safety and under roof. And
3:07 then we also have business
3:11 services, which is essentially
3:11 our wrap around services and
3:12 keeping General Services
3:13 moving forward. So if you are
3:17 handoffs and faster service.
3:18 Now, this is the piece that I
3:19 get really excited to talk
3:21 about. This is in the space of
3:22 what we The beauty of what you
3:27 see here is who built rgs team
3:28 across every division and in
3:28 partnership with Peak
3:29 developed our Mission in
3:32 Motion Strategic plan and they
3:36 didn't do it in a vacuum. We
3:38 project conducted poll survey
3:39 work. Each of our agency
3:41 partners got to weigh in on
3:41 how general and services is
3:42 conducting our work. We also
3:43 put that out into the
3:45 community so that we can
3:46 understand what folks needed
3:48 from us. And each of those
3:49 voices would be shaped in the
3:52 work that we do in our plans
3:53 moving forward throughout the
3:54 year. So the result of our
3:56 mission, vision and values
3:57 that belongs employees,
4:00 reflect our customers, our
4:02 values being being responsive,
4:03 customer centered measuring
4:06 what matters so that we
4:06 deliver with accuracy,
4:08 simplifying streamlining and
4:10 delivering making transparency
4:13 and to a practice and
4:16 communicating openly and
4:16 collaboratively widely. So
4:17 this is what we call our
4:18 mission in motion. And this is
4:18 how we truly operate every
4:24 day. As it relates to our
4:26 strategic priorities of 2027.
4:28 And this is who we sur these
4:29 priorities are mission emotion
4:32 and action essentially the
4:34 same team rds team that built
4:36 also are commitments that you
4:38 see here. We started with the
4:40 mayor's priorities and float
4:42 them down into ours so that
4:43 every commitment serves our
4:45 agency partners, our business
4:48 community and our partners. So
4:49 you'll see a shelter
4:52 facilities comes first because
4:55 safe reliable buildings and
4:56 the foundation is are all in
4:58 mile people. Powered is on
4:58 this list deliberately so that
5:01 we can ensure that our general
5:02 service team knows that
5:06 without them there is no gs
5:06 and that continuous
5:07 improvement is how we do more
5:09 with a leaner workforce. And
5:10 without burning out entire
5:15 team. As it relates to
5:16 addressing city Council
5:18 priorities. So our work lands
5:20 directly into a council
5:20 priorities, which is going to
5:22 be around housing and
5:24 supporting work for our
5:25 workers and our businesses. So
5:26 you'll see here which is
5:28 exceptional and 11% shelter
5:31 team maintains the facilities
5:32 behind the city's housing
5:35 response with an estimated
5:37 1.7, 5 million, the security
5:38 rfp, which you'll hear more
5:40 about in the coming weeks was
5:41 built with vendors, the union
5:43 and city partners at the table
5:43 from day one. And we continue
5:48 to do so. Does or
5:49 reauthorization? It keeps the
5:51 doors open for small minority
5:51 and women-owned businesses so
5:52 that they can work with the
5:53 city for another 5 years in
5:55 into those years to come. We
5:59 also get into the community,
6:01 our most recent supplier,
6:02 diversity Opportunity Fair,
6:04 grew roughly around 70
6:05 businesses. This took place
6:06 yesterday afternoon. And this
6:08 is connecting face-to-face
6:09 with their city agencies
6:10 around the opportunities that
6:11 are available with the And I
6:13 want to sincerely thank our
6:15 city council members that
6:17 shared that distribution fire.
6:19 I city website with their
6:21 constituency to assist in
6:21 getting a lot of those
6:24 businesses at the fair
6:24 yesterday that is critical in
6:25 the space of capacity
6:30 building. Equity consideration
6:33 is one of our core components
6:34 and everything that we do
6:34 touches equity. And I am we
6:36 make sure that it is built
6:39 into how we buy. We build and
6:40 we budget. We truly listen
6:43 before we decided this seen
6:44 through task force as being in
6:44 the community as working with
6:48 our agency partners as having
6:49 various meetings with labor
6:52 workforce. This shapes our
6:53 choices inequity. One of the
6:54 examples that we're bringing
6:55 here with you today is how
6:58 we've been integrating our the
6:58 division of small business
7:00 opportunity into sourcing
7:00 strategy. So it's one
7:01 ecosystem and the way in which
7:06 the city works with all of our
7:07 contracting opportunities, we
7:10 convened task force around the
7:10 discordant that we put out.
7:11 We're convening task force on
7:15 our rules and regulations. We
7:17 have picture advisory group
7:18 whereby does bode equities
7:21 built throughout that. We
7:22 ensure that we have 2 kids in
7:25 training available ensure that
7:31 equity living in the space. As
7:32 it relates to performance
7:33 metrics. We want to make sure
7:35 that we are showing how our
7:39 work that we're doing and
7:42 really is reflected. So we've
7:42 provided to metrics here today
7:44 in the first is again around
7:47 the vision of small business
7:47 opportunity and the dollars
7:48 that were getting into the
7:49 pockets of our small minority
7:51 and women-owned businesses.
7:53 The blue bars reflect the
7:55 pockets of the dollars in
7:57 pockets from Rs Mwbe czar,
7:59 small minority women-owned
8:01 businesses and money that
8:02 they've actually received from
8:03 contracts throughout the
8:06 citywide work you. And that
8:07 doesn't stop there. Also say
8:09 that with our purchasing stand
8:10 in the space where we don't
8:12 have requirements on
8:13 contracts, you'll see that we
8:15 are seeing citywide agencies
8:16 utilizing certified
8:17 businesses, even in the
8:19 absence of these requirements.
8:20 So we're bringing small
8:21 businesses in this space of
8:22 contracts as well as in our
8:23 purchasing spend, which is
8:26 great. We continue to advance
8:27 payments and commitments
8:28 because that's what keeps our
8:33 businesses open and thriving.
8:35 Our next metric is a really
8:36 are out. Our priorities have
8:37 shaped and played out. So
8:40 earlier you heard us talking
8:42 about how we've been working
8:44 in facilities, management with
8:45 efficiency and effectiveness.
8:47 This is a great representation
8:48 of that. We've shifted
8:49 facilities, maintenance
8:52 towards core services and
8:53 preventative work, fixing
8:54 things that before they break
8:56 is cheaper, safer and
8:59 responsible for the So while
9:00 customer requests are
9:02 anticipated to reduce to to
9:03 focus on core areas are
9:05 preventative maintenance, work
9:06 orders will continue to
9:06 increase so they were getting
9:10 ahead of things and 2027. We
9:12 can expect that the volume
9:15 will remain consistent. But
9:16 with a leaner workforce and
9:17 smarter working smarter, not
9:18 harder will continue to
9:23 advance this mission. And then
9:24 last but not least our budget.
9:26 The last to be is yet another
9:28 example from a strategic
9:29 priorities that I shared with
9:30 you earlier. This is showing
9:33 you before we get into the
9:34 numbers, how are and our
9:37 priorities align with one
9:39 another. So and you'll see
9:39 this flow through as we get in
9:41 on talking about the numbers.
9:42 So we're price prioritizing
9:45 funding for essential
9:46 operations. The first and on
9:49 top of that list is ensuring
9:49 that our critical city
9:50 operations, including
9:53 municipal in host sites, are
9:54 taking care of facilities,
9:56 management and security
9:57 services. This is top top of
9:59 mind for sustaining the city's
10:00 obligations for utility
10:01 payments which represent
10:05 nearly half of gs is total
10:08 budget optimizing citywide
10:09 building in security
10:09 screening. We're currently
10:11 doing an entire reorganize
10:12 security space to enhance
10:13 safety, consistency in
10:16 operational efficiency. Our
10:17 second velocity is around
10:19 strengthening how we work and
10:20 deliver. And again, this goes
10:21 into people powered, which is
10:22 one of our priorities that we
10:23 shared with you earlier. This
10:26 is ensuring that reducing
10:27 duplication. We're enhancing
10:30 consistency, were doing cross
10:31 training and we're making sure
10:32 that ecosystems of our team
10:33 are working together so that
10:35 we can serve our agency
10:38 partners and the community and
10:40 then last but not least which
10:42 again, we come to you all
10:43 about very often is
10:44 strengthening contracted
10:45 services through strategic
10:46 partnerships. I'm really proud
10:50 of these 2 areas as well. One
10:52 example of that is through
10:53 security. We have launched a
10:54 new competitive. We will be
10:56 launching a new competitive
10:58 solicitation. This has been
10:59 informed by engagement with
11:02 really reinforce that
11:02 labor specifically seiu. We
11:03 relationship with them. I
11:09 brought them to the table. Tin
11:09 you to include are small
11:11 businesses that work in this
11:12 space and then city agencies
11:15 on what their needs are for
11:17 their various facilities. This
11:18 is helping helping to
11:19 strengthen our approach and
11:20 our service delivery with our
11:21 next rfp that you'll see
11:24 coming in 2027 and then last
11:28 but not least is our
11:29 janitorial and landscaping
11:29 contracted services. I really
11:31 applaud the work that our
11:32 facilities management team has
11:33 done in this space because
11:34 we've been refining service
11:37 levels and a delivery mode.
11:37 Well, cute. Still keeping
11:38 people at the top of mind that
11:39 they're the ones that are
11:41 doing this work. We want to
11:43 make sure that we're
11:44 responsible and managing these
11:45 resources but still meeting
11:46 the needs of our clients,
11:50 which you all? So I've talked
11:51 a lot about strategy in
11:52 philosophy and you guys really
11:53 want to hear about the money.
11:55 So I will hand it off to Mike
12:02 Bryan to take us through that.
12:04 Thanks, treatment. And good
12:05 afternoon. Everyone might
12:06 Broughton deputy executive
12:09 This area chart that you have
12:09 director of General Services.
12:11 before you illustrates our
12:16 budget proposed for 2027
12:17 business services, which
12:21 includes our the program, the
12:23 male in print services as well
12:25 as of course. Now I'm going
12:29 blank What am I missing? What
12:30 the utilities thank you, which
12:32 is also the biggest It's
12:35 written right could have
12:36 actually said that facility,
12:38 certain security and surplus.
12:40 31 Million. So I'll run
12:42 through business services,
12:45 utilities that in the past
12:47 council has look at using
12:49 services applies budget as as
12:52 a way address some of other
12:54 funding priorities. Our
12:55 utilities are are in that
12:57 budget. So we have 32.6, 5
12:58 million dollars of utilities
13:01 are in total total budget for
13:02 the department of 70 Million.
13:06 Half of that utilities, rv
13:08 program, 610,000 mail print
13:09 services, 432,000 for
13:14 facilities. Surplus over the
13:16 box our facilities,
13:17 maintenance team about
13:20 21 million securities, about
13:20 10 million and our surplus
13:24 team is about a million
13:26 dollars. But they bring in
13:27 they actually create revenue
13:27 for the city at matter just
13:31 under 10 million dollars
13:33 sourcing and strategy. That's
13:38 our procurement contracts.
13:39 Poll and workday group source
13:43 group so there are 3.3 million
13:43 and then office of the
13:44 executive director at 1.5
13:47 million for a total project.
13:51 Proposed budget 70.2 million
13:56 dollars in expenditure by
13:57 type. This is the goes back to
13:59 that service supplies.
14:01 Comment. So our services and
14:02 supplies by far biggest
14:04 section of our budget that
14:08 over 50 million dollars.
14:09 Breakdown of that. Just so you
14:10 understand what goes into that
14:13 and why it's so large
14:13 utilities, specifically just
14:18 the utilities that we pay at
14:20 29.0, 7 million security
14:21 professional services. So some
14:23 of the operational costs at
14:26 management. This is still
14:26 8.5 million facilities