Denver’s public safety agency is pushing to roughly double the fee for 911 emergency services, arguing it’s necessary to keep operations afloat and meet response time requirements. 

The proposed fee hike — from $1.20 to $2.12 per month —  would apply to all residents who have a phone, whether landline or mobile, registered in the city.  

“This change will allow us to maintain operations through the rest of 2025 and set us up for success in some of the infrastructure and staffing moves that we’ve been making over the last few years,” Denver 911 Director Andrew Dameron said.

The fee hike would also help keep afloat the 911 Trust afloat, which funds Denver 911 via the service charges, solvent, the official said. 

Dameron said that without the increase, the 911 Trust fund would dip below $0 balance and raising the fee to $2.12 would “keep us solvent through the end of the year,” assuming it goes into effect on June 1.

The last time the city saw a 911 fee increase was in 2019.

An audit, conducted late last year, concluded that Denver’s emergency first responders were failing to meet their own response time goals.

Along with call volume and employee burnout, managers partly blamed new laws coming out of Colorado General Assembly that resulted in less control over how often staffers could take leave of absence.

Dameron told members of the Safety Housing Education and Homeless committee on Wednesday that, without the additional funding, the city would face continued failure to meet emergency call answer times, risk losing advanced technology tied to reducing call volume and improving customer service, and have to shift personnel costs back to the general fund.

Under Colorado law, the use of the 911 Trust Fund dollars is restricted to the technology, networks, facilities, training and infrastructure required to provide a robust 911 system for a municipality.

“It is very explicit that only after those costs have been covered can you use those fees to pay for personnel expenses as well as some equipment outside of the 911 center,” Dameron said.

Denver 911, the sole emergency communications center for the entire city and county, handles nearly two million calls annually. It benchmarks its goals using standards set by the National Emergency Number Association — to answer 90% of all 911 calls within 15 seconds and 95% of all calls within 20 seconds.

Denver’s 911 fees are currently among some of the lowest in the state, with Pitkin County at $4 per month and San Luis Valley at less than $1.

Dameron said adding 41 new employees and AI-based technology to help rescue call volume could help the city’s emergency nerve center solve its call-answering woes.

Last year, he told auditors that to afford additional FTE, Denver 911 would have to raise the 911 fee, “at which point we will have the funds necessary to hire at least 19 additional staff to start.”

Dameron agreed with auditors and said staffing shortages have been a significant problem since the pandemic when, at one time, turnover rates were as high as 77%.

Shortages also resulted in 911 operators being required to work up to 14 hours in a 24-hour period and averaging 163 hours of overtime during the 11-month review period.

While the center has made significant strides in hiring and retaining personnel — with turnover rates now at less than 10% — Dameron said recent changes in labor laws still present challenges.

“In 2024, with the introduction of the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, along with family leave and the city’s version of that being CARES, we’ve seen a 334% increase in the amount of leave being taken by our team,” Dameron said. “I want to be clear that this isn’t leave abuse — this is employees using the benefits that are available to them as employees of the City and County of Denver, and it’s just one of those unintended consequences of these acts and changes that we’re seeing.”

Even operating at more than 80% of the authorized number of employees, Dameron said the center is not meeting the specified call answer times, largely due to the amount of leave being taken.

“We just have so many people who are out at any one time that it negatively impacts and kind of negates the effects of that additional staff,” he said.

Councilmembers appeared supportive of the request.

“I don’t see a whole heck a lot of waste in the 911 system,” District 6 Councilmember Paul Kashmann said. “So, if there was ever a justified increase, I think this is one.”

The proposal will be moved to the full council later this month. If the city council approves, the rate increase would become effective June 1.