DENVER — The mass layoffs at the City and County of Denver have been completed, city officials announced Wednesday.
The city laid off 169 employees and eliminated 666 vacant positions. Previously, the city said 171 employees had been laid off, but on Wednesday, officials said two employees resigned ahead of the layoffs, bringing the number down to 169.
Mayor Mike Johnston hosted a roundtable with reporters on Wednesday to provide more details about the layoffs and answer questions.
With the city facing a $200 million budget gap, Johnston said layoffs became unavoidable.
“I never wanted this part of this job,” Johnston said. “This is a hard thing to do, the honest and courageous thing in this moment, which is to say we can't just keep doing what we're doing.”
Some critics have blamed the city’s spending on immigrants for causing the budget gap.
“People are certainly entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. And so, I think this is why the facts matter here,” Johnston said.
The mayor told Denver7 the city’s spending on immigrants and homelessness programs is only $3 million more than two years ago, not hundreds of millions as some claim.
“In fact, our migrant spending next year will go to zero in the 2026 budget,” Johnston said. “That is not part of this crisis.”
Instead, the mayor blamed the budget gap on declining sales tax revenue and government growth over the past decade before he took office. As for the layoffs, Johnston said the city tried to be fair and consistent.
“We were able to do that without either disproportionately impacting our longest tenured employees, which was a concern, without disproportionately impacting frontline, direct service employees, or employees of color,” Johnston said.
The city on Wednesday released a breakdown of layoffs by department. The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) had the most layoffs with 31, followed by the Community Planning and Development Office with 19, and the Human Resources Office with 18. There were no layoffs for the police, fire and sheriff's department.
Johnston rejected accusations that his administration was deliberately targeting its critics through the layoffs. Denver City Council Member Stacie Gilmore, whose husband, Scott, was laid off from his position at the Parks & Rec Department, told Denver7 she believes he was targeted because of her outspokenness against Johnston and his administration.
“I think it's irresponsible and factually false,” Johnston said. “When we make these decisions, we don't base them on who you know or who you’re married to.”
Johnston said the layoffs and elimination of vacant positions will help the city fill $100 million of the $200 million budget gap. The remaining gap will be filled by cuts to contracts, supplies and services, according to the mayor.
Johnston said additional layoffs and furloughs won’t be necessary in the year ahead.
