One of the highest paid city employees in Denver is DIA CEO Phil Washington, who rakes in $266,143 a year as the airport's chief executive.
But under a new proposal advanced by a Denver City Council committee on Tuesday, Washington could get a 30% percent raise -- an increase of $80,820 -- pushing his annual salary to $346,975 a year. The committee voted 4-1 to move the bill to the full City Council, with councilmember Candi CdeBaca voting no.
Washington's is one of 11 appointed positions that would see a salary increase under a proposal put forward by Mayor Michael Hancock's administration. The administration said the raises reflect a market median for each position and would allow the city to stay competitive in recruitment and retention.
At least six positions, including the public safety director, the parks director and the city's public health director, would all see a raise of 15% or more.
Source: Denver Mayor's office
Collectively, that amounts to $309,838 in increases, which would be absorbed by each department in this year's budget. Washington's new salary would come from money made by the airport, not the city's General Fund.
Skye Stuart, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Hancock, said the new salary amounts were based on a pay study completed in 2021 by the city's human resources office. Stuart said the office used comparable city data, based on population and form of government, and compared similar positions in those cities.
With the exception of the director of the Department of Excise and License, Stuart said these 11 positions had not received a salary increase in six years. The raises range from the 30% hike for the DIA CEO position to 2.44% for the executive director of the city's transportation and infrastructure office. Stuart said these ranges reflect how some positions have kept better pace over the years with the market.
"This will help keep us competitive, particularly at some high-level positions that are really important to keep our city functioning," Stuart told lawmakers. "It also supports retention of key personnel."
Denver City Council must approve salary increases because salaries for those positions are written into city law. So changing the salaries means changing the law.
If lawmakers pass the changes, they would go into effect retroactively starting on Jan. 1.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Washington is not the top highest paid city employee in the city.
