AURORA | City lawmakers are getting closer to defining what kind of city-county Aurora could become.
At a special study session May 3, Aurora City Council gave initial approval to keep a council-manager form of government with part-time rather than full-time council members as part of an ongoing study of what it would take for Aurora to make the switch.
The conversation served as a precursor to an additional study that is being conducted by TischlerBise on where the city can find savings for an effort that is otherwise estimated to cost $325 million.
In March, that cost was presented as part of a final draft of a study by the firm as the maximum costs Aurora would incur if it were to become a city-county tomorrow, have fully staffed city and county operations, keep its current city boundaries, and remain in the 18th Judicial District.
Julie Herlands, a spokeswoman with TischlerBise, said council needed to decide whether to elect or appoint city-county positions before moving forward with a new study that will identify potential cost-savings.
“Elected (county) officials have a salary schedule that is set by the state. Appointed officials can negotiate a higher salary,” she said. Herlands added that nearly all the county-required roles were appointed in Denver and Broomfield. The exception is Denver’s Clerk and Recorder, who is elected, and Broomfield’s Coroner, who is contracted through Adams County.
Council narrowly approved on an informal vote of 6-4 to appoint rather than elect all six county-required positions. Those include an assessor, clerk and recorder, coroner, sheriff, surveyor and treasurer. Mayor Steve Hogan voted as a tiebreaker in favor of moving forward with the decisions, with council members Molly Markert, Renie Peterson, Debi Hunter Holen, and Sally Mounier voting against the measure.
During the meeting, council members also gave initial approval to council serving the dual role of county commissioners under a city-county model. That had some questioning whether council could remain part-time with the additional responsibilities.
“I don’t know if I do 40 hours a week right now, but I do more than 100 hours a month,” said councilmember Barb McClelland, referring to the number of hours council members get paid for on their monthly paycheck.
What to do about the city’s social services, which are heavily supported by Arapahoe County’s tax base and could be costly for Aurora in making the switch, was also a contentious issue.
“This is the thing that really scares me: I don’t want to be in a position where we’re not serving our citizens at the highest quality. Because we’re looking at costs, we’re going to start cutting, and not providing services all of our citizens need,” Hunter Holen said.
Hogan pointed out that the city already has employees providing social services and that there could be cost-savings in using the same staff for county positions.
“The people we have supporting human needs are maybe 35 altogether including Police and Fire,” Markert said. “What we don’t have now is adequate county services. To base a future on what we have now that is already inadequate is a wrong place to start.”