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Michael Johnston: “There are certain mission critical operations that will not…”

Featuring: Michael Johnston, Nonpartisan | Mayor of Denver | Colorado

Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans

Published May 22, 2025 | Video Starts at 45:23

I don't know if I mentioned in the hiring freeze. Obviously hierarchies will not apply to uniformed officers. It will not apply to 911 call takers. There are certain mission critical operations that will not be frozen. And there are certain core frontline public services that if someone quits a month from now, we will have to backfill. (45:23–45:28)

CLAIM

Asserts that certain mission-critical operations will not be subject to the hiring freeze.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Michael Johnston

“Consumer sentiment right now is twice as low as it was the day that the world closed and the COVID pandemic began in March of 2020.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 02:42-02:52
“This is right now the third lowest that this [consumer sentiment] rate has ever been in the last 75 years of American life.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 02:54-03:02
“National Women's Soccer league, that's a $2.2 billion investment.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 11:10-11:14
“It's a 1,100 jobs. It's half a billion dollars of sales tax revenue.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 11:13-11:18
“National Western center, this is one that is now at this point more than $3 billion of GDP driven by that.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 11:20-11:30
“We reduced the size of government last year and shrank it for the first time in 50 years.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 21:59-22:04
“In 2025, [there will be] about a $50 million revenue gap, and heading into 2026, about a $200 million projected deficit.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 01:57-02:06
“Business confidence right here in Colorado... is at its lowest rate in the last 15 years.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 03:48-04:05
“Revenue has grown steadily at about 5% average revenue growth every single year [over the last 15 years].”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 05:51-06:01
“Instead of a 3% revenue growth in 25, what we are seeing is a near zero revenue percent growth. At 0.3% revenue growth on the year.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 06:55-07:03
“We did not imagine you would see the worst economic collapse in the last 20 years, other than Covid in the first four months of this year.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 07:19-07:28
“About 70% of our total expense expenditures are people.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 07:44-07:48
“We have increased our total employee count by about 40%.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 07:59-08:04
“We saw almost 70% growth in contracts and services over that same period of time.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 08:11-08:18
“That has resulted in total increase in expenditures of 83%.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 08:19-08:25
“Our revenues have only grown by 75%.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 08:35-08:39
“We first started by slowing that growth to 4.5% in our first budget.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 09:04-09:09
“Last year, for the first time in more than 15 years, we actually cut government.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 09:09-09:14
“The gap is in 2026 is now that 200 million dollar number.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 09:34-09:39
“The flattening [of revenue] is what accounted for $50 million of GAAP this year.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 09:42-09:42
“Capital dollars [from bonds] only used for capital expenditures just to build things.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 10:57-27:38
“A third of our jobs, almost 15% of our sales tax base is in downtown.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 11:31-11:37
“We will start a tiered furlough system for city employees for 2025.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 12:49-12:54
“That tiered balance both helps us save $10 million.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 13:43-13:47
“We will also start a hiring freeze effective today.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 13:51-13:54
“Expenses [are] growing faster than revenues and revenues flattening faster and faster.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 14:14-14:19
“We have to start with the most difficult challenges [which is] how do we actually right size the budget to restructure to meet this $200…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 15:16-15:23
“We are not going to stop that focus. We're not going to walk away from public safety commitments.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 15:33-15:38
“We're not going away from commitments on housing or homelessness or climate or child friendly.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 15:37-15:43
“We will have to look at retirement reduction or elimination of programs. We'll have to look at consolidation of departments. And yes, we…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 15:56-16:05
“Hiring phases will start today. We'll begin the furlough process June 1st.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 17:44-17:48
“When you see that you have less money, you have to balance the budget to make it work.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 19:29-19:34
“The woman who greets you at the door will be taking a pay cut to do that job. The guy that picks up your trash next day will be taking a pay…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 20:07-20:21
“Across three years, these two expenditures [on migrants and homelessness] together are up less than $3 million net.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 24:34-24:40
“Migrant spending [is] coming down significantly.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 24:41-24:44
“5,000 people are moved off the streets into transitional housing.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 25:18-25:22
“We do not have any encampments in our city center.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 25:21-25:25
“Bond dollars are allocated to be used for public construction projects.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 28:18-28:25
“The stadium will not be staffed by Denver city employees.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 29:14-29:18
“The stock show is run by the National Western and an independent organization.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 29:23-29:30
“Investments in downtown Denver will include building parks and converting commercial buildings to residential.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 29:36-29:46
“The bond can be both maintenance of existing projects and infrastructure and new infrastructure.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 30:31-30:41
“We predicted a drop of this magnitude which would have been dramatic.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 32:50-32:55
“We did not predict one of the third worst drops in the last 75 years.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 32:55-32:59
“We are planning for a 0% growth in 2026.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 33:37-33:41
“The new administration is revoking [FEMA grant] dollars on the grounds that we used them to provide services to migrants.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 34:38-34:45
“We think that's clearly a legal violation of Congress's intent and Congress's actions.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 34:45-34:52
“The most profound thing that the federal government is doing that is driving a change for our city is the collapse of consumer confidence…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 35:06-35:16
“We see some of the dramatically higher rates of occupancy and revenue are disproportionately in lower downtown, not in upper downtown.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 36:03-36:12
“That is singly because of the investment of Union Station and the surrounding areas that have driven that recovery much faster than other…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 36:12-36:20
“When you have 5, 7, 8% growth every year, it's easy to think that you keep growing.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 37:39-37:44
“There were 17, 18, 19 already those years were running deficits, but the result was you had big fund balances that had built up from the…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 37:48-37:58
“We made capital investment of almost a quarter of a billion dollars over the last three or four years [in 16th street].”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 38:49-38:52
“The Union Station story... now paid itself back twice as fast it's done in 15 years.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 39:24-39:37
“The immediate dollars that we're contesting are $24 million of federal grants that we already spent dollars for.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 40:48-40:56
“We do have dollars that we have prepared to be able to use for cases like this.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 41:10-41:16
“Over the last 10 years, when expenditures have been growing faster than revenues, the way the city has managed that is by dipping into fund…”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 41:54-42:03
“The city has never in its history drop below 10% fund balance.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 42:33-42:37
“Contingency is every year we keep a contingency for just that one year's Crisis. That's about $34 million.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 42:54-43:01
“The airport will also take furloughs. All of our staff at the airport will also participate.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 44:59-45:04
“Hiring freeze will not apply to uniformed officers. It will not apply to 911 call takers.”
Denver Mayor Michael Johnston Addresses City's Financial Challenges and Strategic Plans | Uploaded May 22, 2025 | 45:13-45:24