Denver's budget amendment night: a rental aid compromise and a few small changes passed, most did not

Denver City Council members rejected most of their own proposed changes to Mayor Mike Johnston's 2027 budget on Monday night, Nov. 2, but came away with a compromise that adds roughly $4 million for rental assistance, the Denver Gazette reported.

Why it matters: Monday was the Council's last chance to amend the budget. Each amendment that passed now goes to Johnston, who has until noon Thursday, Nov. 6, to accept or veto it. The rental aid deal decides how long the city's main eviction prevention program can keep paying out next year.

What passed

The Gazette listed these among the amendments approved. We matched each to the amendment text posted in the city's legislative system:

• Public defender, $60,000. Money for "overdue pay equity audits and required vendor expenses" at the Office of the Municipal Public Defender. That is Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez's 26-1657, which takes the money from the Mayor's Office personnel budget (text).
• Police watchdog, $60,000. An upgraded position at the Office of the Independent Monitor. That is Shontel Lewis's 26-1662, which names no offsetting cut (text).
• Youth violence prevention data, $200,000. That is 26-1671, from Lewis, Jamie Torres and Gonzales-Gutierrez (text).
• Rental assistance. A compromise reached with the Johnston administration, described below.

The rental aid deal

The deal would bring the Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance program, known as TRUA, to about $8.5 million next year, up from the $4.5 million in Johnston's proposal but well short of the $15.1 million budgeted this year, the Gazette reported. It included shifting about $1.7 million from other parts of the budget.

That figure matches a revised amendment our records show was filed Monday afternoon, 26-1673, from Gonzales-Gutierrez, Lewis and Flor Alvidrez. It moves $1,724,038 into rental assistance by trimming services and supplies budgets across 11 agencies (text). The original $5.5 million version, 26-1667, was also revised Monday afternoon. Our companion story compares the two line by line.

The administration also agreed to other changes, according to the Gazette: about $2 million more for Denver CARES, the detox program run by Denver Health; filling 10 vacant 911 call center jobs with projected 911 surcharge revenue; and three 311 call-takers, two park rangers and three inspectors.

"We've done a lot of backflips to get here," Gonzales-Gutierrez said, according to the report. "We were not able to add all of the new staffing requested by City Council," Johnston said, according to the Gazette.

What did not pass

The Gazette listed several proposals that were not among those approved:

• Denver Day Works, $530,000, Lewis's two-year version, 26-1659.
• STAR crisis response, $500,000, Lewis's 26-1661.
• Crime lab staff, $492,680, 26-1668. Our records show this amendment was revised Monday afternoon, down from $689,923 in the version filed last week (updated text).
• Jail case managers, $258,975, 26-1669.

The report did not give vote counts or say whether each of these was voted down or withdrawn. It also did not mention Paul Kashmann's street safety amendment, 26-1658; Darrell Watson's Nest56 and fair housing amendments, 26-1663 and 26-1664; the three-year Day Works version, 26-1660; Lewis's two basic income study versions, 26-1665 and 26-1666; or rental aid for DPS families, 26-1670. We have not been able to confirm what happened to those, and we will update this story when the city posts results.

What our records add

No roll calls yet. As of Tuesday morning, the city's legislative system had not posted an outcome or a roll call for any of Monday's amendments, and the meeting's minutes were still in draft (meeting). That means we cannot yet report how each member voted. The Council has 12 members while the at-large seat is vacant, so an amendment needed seven votes if everyone voted.

Sixteen items, not 15. The revised rental aid amendment was added to the meeting's agenda Monday, making it the 16th amendment item. Our story listing the original 15 has the details of each.

Last year for comparison. On amendment night for the 2026 budget, Nov. 3, 2025, 10 amendments passed and nine failed (meeting), as our story on last year's votes details. Johnston accepted all 10, Denverite reported.

What's next

• By noon Thursday, Nov. 6: Johnston accepts or vetoes each amendment that passed.
• Monday, Nov. 9: The Council can override a veto with nine votes and must adopt the budget, 26-1547.
• The winner of today's at-large election will not vote on the budget; certification and swearing-in are tentatively set for Nov. 24, as we explained.