Finger pointing continues in Federal Heights.

After a Federal Heights City Council executive session Tuesday evening, the council decided to start a financial audit of the city’s fire and police departments — just two weeks after unions representing the departments issued an anonymous vote of no confidence in City Manager Jacquie Halburnt.

Mayor Linda Montoya announced the audits after an hour-long meeting behind closed doors. The meeting was listed on the minutes to have been about Halburnt.

“The audit should start within a few weeks and will review the department structures and duties,” Halburnt told The Denver Gazette Thursday.

Both the police chief and fire chief welcome the audit and expect to be cleared, according to the Federal Heights Professional Firefighters Local 4222 union.

The union said the investigation should go beyond department finances, asking for a third-party, neutral investigation into the city manager.

“Decisions at the city management level impact emergency response, first-responder safety and public trust. Accountability cannot be selective,” the union said.

There is also another third-party investigation into the fire and police departments started by Halburnt earlier this year, but it is separate from the new audit, she said.

The genesis of the multiple investigations into the opposing parties was on Jan. 20 when representatives from the two unions stood before the council, lambasting Halburnt for what they said were issues of communication, engagement and support for public safety operations.

“These challenges have included staffing levels, officer safety, operational resources, and the ability of the department to effectively respond to and investigate crime in the community,” FOP Lodge 77 President Jason Schlenker said, adding that there has been an erosion of trust between the police department and the city.

There was another executive session the following week, Jan. 27, but it ended without any action.

“A vote of no confidence means nothing. It means you just don’t like someone,” resident Rosemary Zapor said in defense of Halburnt to the council on Tuesday. “I believe (Halburnt) has done a tremendous job.”

She added that Federal Heights has limited resources due to its size. It cannot expand like Denver or Aurora.

“What we have is what we have,” she said.

In the city’s 2026 annual budget, provided by Halburnt, the police department takes up over $7 million, nearly 40% of the budget, and the fire department takes up more than $2 million.

But other residents are still upset that no actions have been made regarding Halburnt.

“Everybody was just in awe. Where did that come from?” Jim Fenimore asked, questioning the legality of holding an executive session about one topic, but coming back out with an entirely different topic.

“How did the police and fire get involved in this when it was supposed to be talking about the city manager? It’s very gray,” he added. “We the people, we weren’t happy when they came back with that.”

Federal Heights is a small city north of Westminster with a 2023 estimated population of just over 14,000.