DENVER — A Denver City Council committee took up an ordinance Wednesday that would end the city’s default of awarding construction work to the lowest bidder and instead require contractors on large jobs to certify that they pay prevailing wages, offer benefits and provide safety training.
Council members a part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee did not reach a unanimous vote on the ordinance Wednesday afternoon, therefore automatically moving it to next week's committee meeting.
Council member Chris Hinds told Denver7 he expects more discussion on Friday.
Councilmembers Hinds and Flor Alvidrez sponsor the bill, which would amend Article IV of Chapter 20 of the city code. It strikes language tying contract awards to the lowest, responsive, qualified bidder.
For construction contracts of $1 million or more, the prime contractor would submit a signed responsibility certification with its bid, along with certifications from every subcontractor, according to the bill’s text.
Contractors would attest that they hold required licenses, have not defaulted on a project or been debarred in the past five years and have no willful wage or safety violations or judgments in that time. They would also attest that they will pay prevailing wages or more, keep a written safety plan and offer health insurance. A false certification would be grounds for debarment.
Contractors with five or more employees and at least two years in business would also have to offer a retirement plan or help employees join the state’s SecureSavings program, unless a collective bargaining agreement provides those benefits. Skilled craft workers would need at least 10 hours of OSHA safety training.
Hinds said the city’s current approach varies from agency to agency.
“It’s a hodgepodge, and that’s actually what we’re looking at resolving,” Hinds said.
The sponsors’ presentation says no uniform standard exists across city departments, some departments still default to the lowest bidder and an existing executive order on values-based bidding can be changed unilaterally by the executive branch.
Hinds said he wants the same values applied to every city contract.
“Best value contracting, in its essence, is making sure that the values that we in Denver hold important are stamped on every contract that the city has with external vendors,” Hinds said.
Hinds said the auditor’s office has a group called Denver Labor that investigates wage theft. A firm found guilty can be kicked off a project, he said, but nothing stops it from going back to that project or others.
“Don’t steal money from your employees. That’s one value,” Hinds said.
Hinds said the scale of construction makes the change urgent. He cited $950 million in Vibrant Denver bond money, $920 million for National Western and about half a billion dollars tied to the downtown development authority. He said city layoffs also mean less oversight.
The sponsors’ presentation cites research it says shows screening contractors has not raised costs. It points to a 2014 peer-reviewed study of 321 Ohio school projects that found no statistically discernible effect on bid costs. It also cites a study of 1,237 projects in northern Illinois and Indiana that found 8% more bids per project with no effect on total costs. The presentation notes that a separate set of prevailing wage studies tests wages, not the full certification, and that affordable housing is the main exception.
Ruben Arneros, a representative with the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters and vice president of Local 555, voiced support for the bill. Arneros, a carpenter for 13 years who lives in Denver, said he wants tax dollars to help build the community and not undercut local workers.
“I think safety is extremely important,” Arneros said.
Tony Milo, CEO of the Colorado Contractors Association, said large contractors can meet most of the criteria but rely on many subcontractors, including small Denver-based and minority-owned businesses that may not be able to comply. He said one large union contractor on the Colfax bus rapid transit project had 70 subcontractors.
Milo said the sponsors have made improvements the association appreciates, but questions remain, including what it means to offer health insurance.
“It’s not even a matter of cost or convenience. It’s a matter of actually getting the subcontractors and the ability to finish these projects,” Milo said.
He asked the committee to send the bill back for more work.
“Ideally, we’d like to see the committee not pass this, not approve it, send it back for more work, and then reconsider it at a later date,” Milo said.
The sponsors’ presentation says the latest draft raised the dollar threshold to $1 million, removed a weighted formula for awarding bids and pared down health insurance and retirement requirements. It also shifted responsibility for submitting subcontractor certifications from subcontractors to primes.
The Colorado Union of Taxpayers opposes the ordinance. President Kim Monson said in a statement that the certification form is subjective and based on the city’s values.
“With millions of dollars of contracts to be awarded, the long-term consequences could very possibly be that contracts would not be awarded to the lowest, responsive, and qualified bidder but to cronies of PBIs (Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Interested Parties),” Monson said.
Monson's full statement is below:
CUT (Colorado Union of Taxpayers) is opposed to the Denver City Council ordinance amending Article IV of Chapter 20, regarding the competitive selection process for certain contracts. The amended ordinance strikes through the language that the contract should be awarded to the lowest, responsive, qualified bidder. Instead, the ordinance puts in a place a contractor bidding process based on a subjective “Contractor Responsibility Certification” form provided by the City, based on the City’s “values.” With millions of dollars of contracts to be awarded, the long-term consequences could very possibly be that contracts would not be awarded to the lowest, responsive, and qualified bidder but to cronies of PBIs (Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Interested Parties). Look no further than the list of contractors and unions supporting the ordinance noted in the packet prepared for the October 21, 2026, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee meeting.
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