City officials want to move millions from Denver’s General Fund contingency account to the City Attorney’s Liability Claims Fund to cover legal settlements and claims stemming from the 2020 George Floyd protests.

The hefty shift of cash, proposed in Council Bill 26-1107, “will be used to pay a legal judgment against the city, stemming from lawsuits against the Denver Police Department during the George Floyd protests of 2020,” Laura Swartz, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance, told The Denver Gazette.

The bill was introduced by the Denver City Council on Monday and is expected to return on Aug. 3 for a second reading and possible vote.

Officials argue that the General Fund contingency exists for situations like this.

Each year, the contingency fund is budgeted to help the city cover unexpected costs that may arise during the year, Swartz explained. The amount is always set to equal 2% of the city’s planned expenditures in any given year. 

In 2026, the city budgeted $33.4 million for contingency funds.

Less than 90 days ago, a $3 million transfer from the General Fund contingency to the liability and claims fund was approved by the council.

“Including that previous transfer and this $18.8 million transfer, the total remaining contingency (fund) will be $11.7 million for the rest of the year,” Swartz said. “These funds do not roll over to 2027. If the remaining $11.7 million is not needed this year, it will go to the city’s long-term reserves.”

The Denver Gazette reached out to the office of the City Attorney for comment, but a response was not received by publication time.

District 8 Councilmember Shontel Lewis has been critical of the city’s payouts for liability claims.

“Settlements are not paid out of a specific agency’s budget,” Lewis said. “Instead, that funding is drawn out of a liabilities claim special revenue fund and like other special revenue funds, this is money that can only be spent on specialized uses and in this case, paying out settlements.”

When the fund is depleted, the city must transfer money to continue to pay out claims.

“This item before us tonight is the second time this year that we will be pulling funding from the general fund and moving it into this special revenue fund; in other words, every dollar that we move can only be spent to settle cases,” Lewis added. “Every dollar moved for this purpose is one less dollar that can be used to fund city staff, city programs and city services.”

In the wake of multiple lawsuits filed in Denver by protesters since George Floyd’s death, the Denver Police Department has implemented several policy and procedure changes, including visible officer identification, expanded body camera requirements, more restrictions on less-lethal weapons and improved officer training. The 46-year-old Black man’s death at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Department Ofc. Derek Chauvin sparked “Black Lives Matter” protests nationwide in 2020.