Denver councilwoman calls for fire contracts to be reopened: "This urgently needs to be reexamined"

A Denver City Council member is pushing to reopen long-term fire service contracts she says are now draining city resources instead of generating revenue.

Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez said Thursday she is asking the city administration to renegotiate agreements between the Denver Fire Department and neighboring suburbs, including Glendale and Englewood.

 Her request follows a CBS investigation last month that found the contracts -- signed in 2018 and 2015 with the expectation of producing revenue -- are now likely costing Denver money.

"To lock something in for 20 years didn't seem like a good idea. This urgently needs to be reexamined and renegotiated," Alvidrez said.

The call for action comes as the Denver Auditor's Office released its own review Thursday, raising similar concerns about the financial structure of the deals.

"Municipality payments to Denver Fire may not fully cover the city's costs to provide services," the auditor's office said.

The CBS investigation found Denver agreed in 2018 to provide fire protection to Glendale through 2038. A similar 20-year agreement signed in 2015 with Englewood -- running through 2035 -- covers both fire and ambulance services. Both contracts include flat 3% annual increases.

But Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton, who was not involved in negotiating the deals, said rising inflation, labor expenses, and capital costs have likely turned the agreements into losses for the city.

"As of today, financially, it's not in the best interest of the city and moving forward, it's only going to get more expensive," Fulton said in a March interview with CBS Colorado.

Speaking again at Thursday's audit meeting, Fulton underscored the cost pressures, noting that the price of fire engines alone has doubled in the past seven years. He suggested earlier that leadership may have prioritized securing the contracts over building in financial safeguards.

"They were doing all you can to win these cities over," Fulton said. "Looking at that through the rear-view mirror, we definitely should have put levers in place."

Both contracts state Denver would "enjoy significant cost savings." Fulton said that projection has not held up.

"Knowing what we know now," he said, "what makes sense is a much shorter term contract where you can evaluate what's working and what's not."

For Alvidrez, the issue is not just about future deals but fixing current ones. With Denver facing a $200 million budget deficit this year, she said the city cannot afford to subsidize fire protection for neighboring communities.

"I do believe they are looking and will reopen the conversation going into budget season," she said.