DENVER — Monday marks the start of an anticipated one-week layoff notification period for City of Denver employees.
The layoffs are meant to help balance the budget for next year, according to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. In May, Johnston announced the city was projecting a $50 million budget deficit for 2025 and a $200 million budget deficit for 2026.
In mid-July, Johnston sat down with Denver7 and, in part, explained the reasoning behind the layoffs.
"Laying anyone off is always the very, very last resort," Johnston said. "Usually, sales tax goes up about 5% every year. It's flat this year. Because when you have global trade wars, and you have economic recession, you have people afraid to take their families out to dinner. You've got to live within that budget, and that's what we will do."
Denver
Thousands of Denver city workers wait in limbo as layoffs set to start Monday
The president of Local Union 158, Mark Wallin, said he has had several sleepless nights as a result of the looming layoffs. The union represents employees of the City and County of Denver.
"A great deal of suspense," Wallin said on Sunday evening, explaining how the weekend has been.
Wallin has worked with the City of Denver since 2011. He said there is a sense of pride in the work accomplished while at the city, knowing it serves the people of Denver.
But Wallin — along with the rest of city employees — have been waiting on pins and needles, wondering who will be laid off.
"A lot of employees are manifesting this stress, physically, emotionally, and it's very disconcerting," Wallin said. "It's just cruelty."
While there have been no official numbers regarding how many employees will be laid off from the City of Denver, Wallin has heard rumors.
"I've heard 15% to 30% [of employees], and Denver has about 12,000 employees, so it could be up to 4,000 people," Wallin said.
On July 29 of this year, Mayor Johnston sent the following letter to city employees regarding the layoffs.
"The employees that survive the layoffs are going to be working even harder," Wallin said.
According to Wallin, residents of Denver will feel the impact of the layoffs, too.
"We have fewer employees fulfilling the needs of the constituents. So, that pothole in front of your house, you could call 311, they'll send out a truck to fill it the next day, hopefully the next day, but now it may go unfilled," Wallin said. "The citizens are definitely going to feel this."
In 2024, Denver voters approved Referred Question 2U, granting the majority of city employees the ability to participate in collective bargaining. Those collective bargaining rights go into effect at the start of 2026.
In July, the city's career service board approved changes to the city’s layoff procedures, making it easier to lay off longtime city employees by removing some of their protections.
"We feel that was kind of crammed through before any sort of collective bargaining or any sort of contract with the employees has gone into effect," Wallin said. "We worry, in the union, that this doing away with the seniority leaves open promotions based on favoritism, based on nepotism."
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The letter from the mayor states that city employees who are fired will receive 30 calendar days of paid administrative leave. The official separation date for those employees will be 31 calendar days after they are notified.
Most benefits will come to an end after that time period, except medical, dental and vision coverage which will continue through Sept. 30, 2025.
The severance package details are also outlined within the letter from Mayor Johnston and are based on how long the employee has worked for the city.
Denver7 asked a spokesperson with Mayor Johnston's office if he would be available for an interview about the layoffs on Sunday afternoon but did not receive a response.
