The Auditor's Office Works for You and Denver’s Good Government

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It is an honor to address our Hispanic residents who work so hard to move our city forward. If you don’t know me, I’m Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA. Voters elected me in 2015 and again in 2019 to keep a close eye on how government agencies in the City and County of Denver spend your tax dollars.

Many people have asked me what the Auditor does and what role my office plays in local government. That’s why I’ll use this space each month to share how my team impacts Denver by auditing city agencies and enforcing the city’s wage laws.

The government works for you, and it must be accountable and transparent to the people of Denver. My Audit Services team plays an essential role by helping ensure good government and assessing whether the city’s finances, information technologies, contracts, and programs are managed efficiently.

For example, an audit we did of the parking shuttle system at Denver International Airport found that management was not doing enough to ensure the shuttles running from parking lots to the terminals were on time. Another recent audit found the mental health programs the Denver Sheriff Department provides to individuals housed in its jails are decentralized and that the department does not have a strategy for these services.

When we present our audits reports, we share our findings and our recommendations for improvement. When agencies agree to implement those recommendations, everyone who cares about the city wins: including you, the residents we work for.

The Auditor's Office Works for You and Denver’s Good Government

I also appointed Executive Director Jeffrey Garcia to lead my Denver Labor team, whose analysts support you by making sure you are paid at least the amount required by law.

Denver Labor educates the community about minimum wage and prevailing wage and works with businesses and employees to resolve issues of noncompliance in ways that work for everyone. So far this year, we have already recovered more than $1 million for workers in Denver who weren’t paid at least the legal wage.

I’ll talk about this more in future editions. In the meantime, I invite you to learn more about Denver’s minimum wage.