Auditor outlines 2027 reviews of Denver's spending

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(The Center Square) - Denver Auditor Timothy O’Brien revealed the parts of the local government that his office will examine next year.

O’Brien plans to conduct 27 audits in 2027, including on the government's contracted homeless shelter services and construction costs at Denver International Airport.

Another audit will determine whether Denver is properly collecting and using money from voter-approved tax raises benefiting the Denver Public Library and Denver Health.

The 2027 Audit Plan will address concerns Denver citizens have about services that shape their everyday lives, according to the government, which serves both the city and county of Denver.

Regarding his audits, O’Brien said his office has established a standard that is “professional, independent, objective and connected to community.”

“When we build office operations on these principles, accountability does not depend on one elected person. It is accountability that can last,” he added.

In his auditor letter, O’Brien said residents submitted 175 audit ideas to his office, a 40% increase from the previous year.

O’Brien noted his office is still finishing up some audits it had scheduled for this year. One audit he is still trying to finish is the city’s budget process audit. However, O’Brien told Axios that Mayor Mike Johnston’s Office is blocking him by not providing the proper paperwork.

The auditor’s term ends July 19, 2027, so O'Brien said a new person will finish some of these audits.

He added he hopes to “set up the next auditor for success in continuing to deliver independent, transparent and professional oversight of the city and county of Denver's operational and financial management.”

“My sincerest wish is to leave office knowing the standards we set will continue in the years to come,” said O’Brien, who was first elected auditor in 2015.

DJ Summers, Common Sense Institute Colorado’s director of communications and research operations, told The Center Square that people should audit public entities.

Taxpayer money funds these entities, so they “should be managed diligently and responsibly,” he noted. “Audits are one of the means by which we can see what’s going on."

Summers said it is always helpful when a third party analyzes “what can be done to improve outcomes” and identifies what is working and what is not.

Summers noted taxpayer dollars are people’s dollars. “This is money that is derived from the people, and I think people ought to pay close attention to how it's spent."

According to Summers, the items the auditor wants to audit are “all pretty high-level items, and they deal a lot with Denver’s growth over the past 10 years.”

“There are a lot of pretty high-visibility topics that a lot of people are probably interested in seeing what it is that’s been accomplished,” Summers explained.

An area in particular, homelessness, is an issue Denver has spent a “substantial chunk of money” on, he said.  

Summers noted the city spent $138 million on homelessness in Fiscal Year 2024, “almost double” the 2023 amount.

CSI Colorado, a nonpartisan think tank, found Denver spent between $37,309 and $73,450 in 2023 on people who were homeless or in supportive housing.

In Denver’s FY 2026 budget, the city allocated $208 million for affordable housing and homelessness programs.

An audit O’Brien’s office released in March showed Denver spent $20 million more between July 2023 and June 2025 than it previously reported to the Denver City Council on its All In Mile High homelessness initiative, which seeks to move Denver’s homeless population to permanent housing.