Denver picks Stifel as its main debt adviser and keeps Frasca for the airport: $3.2 million in three contracts
A June competitive process produced three Finance Department contracts now headed to the Council. The previous adviser's agreement, amended four times, expired Sept. 30.
Denver's Department of Finance has chosen new municipal advisers, the firms that help the city plan and sell its bonds. A letter from Manager of Finance Nicole Doheny announcing them is filed on Monday's Council agenda (26-1766), and three contracts worth $3.245 million went through the Finance and Business Committee on consent Nov. 10. They're on the Nov. 17 Mayor-Council agenda (meeting).
Why it matters: Denver borrows for everything from parks to airport terminals. Municipal advisers are paid to represent the city, not the banks that buy and resell its bonds, and they shape how and when the city borrows. The airport alone has a $500 million bond anticipation note on Monday's agenda (26-1633).
The three contracts
All three firms were picked through a request for proposals the city issued June 3, 2026, according to the requests.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, $750,000 (26-1707, request). Stifel becomes the city's main adviser for non-airport debt: the debt portfolio and policies, refinancing, rating agencies and investors, disclosure, special taxing districts and tax increment financing. It's $150,000 a year for three years, with two optional one-year renewals. The request says Stifel hasn't worked for the city before. The money comes from the Finance Department's professional services budget and from bond issuance costs.
Frasca & Associates, $1.57 million (26-1709, request). Frasca will advise only on airport debt. It's $300,000 a year with a $10,000 annual increase, for three years plus two optional years, paid from the airport's operating fund. Frasca has worked for the city before.
Summit Street Group, $925,000 (26-1708, request). This is a new kind of contract: "infrastructure advisory services" on "alternative delivery and innovative financing" for city projects, including financial models, finding funding sources and possibly training city staff. It's paid from the General Fund and runs Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2029, so its term started before the Council has voted. The request says the firm has worked for the city before.
What our records add
The old contract kept getting extended. Hilltop Securities held the city's general advisory contract, whose control number dates it to 2017. The Council approved the second, third and fourth amendments: to $1 million in 2023 (23-1845), $1.2 million through 2025 in 2024 (24-1714), and $1.35 million through Sept. 30, 2026, in 2025 (25-1770). Each added $150,000 to $200,000. The new Stifel contract is $150,000 a year.
There's a gap. The Stifel request says Hilltop's contract "expired September 30, 2026." The Council won't vote on Stifel's until Nov. 23 at the earliest.
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Frasca already has a bigger airport contract. In 2025 the Council approved a separate $4 million, three-year contract with Frasca for on-call financial management consulting at Denver International Airport (25-0082). The new contract is for municipal advice on the airport's debt.
The letter. Doheny sent it under Section 20-92 of the city code. Her letter lists Stifel's possible deals: general obligation bonds, excise tax bonds, certificates of participation, and wastewater and golf revenue bonds.
What's next
Monday, Nov. 16: Doheny's letter is filed. Tuesday, Nov. 17: Mayor-Council. Nov. 23 or later: Council votes on the contracts, likely as part of the resolutions block.