Sec. 24-701. - Expenditures of Caring for Denver tax.
(a) Expenditures of the Caring for Denver tax shall be made through the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment ("department"). The department shall contract with a spending agency for this purpose that meets the criteria and requirements of subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The spending agency for this purpose shall be a non-profit corporation that, in serving as an instrumentality of the department, meets the following criteria and requirements:
(1) The non-profit corporation shall be duly incorporated and in good standing under the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act and shall, as a spending agency, possess the power to commit, through grants of tax revenue, monies collected as the Caring for Denver tax. The non-profit corporation shall have the authority to contract in its own name and to hire its own employees who shall not be considered officers or employees of the city.
(2) The non-profit corporation's board of directors shall be composed of thirteen (13) members appointed in the following fashion:
The mayor of Denver shall appoint the following members:
1. The executive director of Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment or his or her designee;
2. The executive director of Denver's Department of Human Services or his or her designee;
3. The Denver City Attorney or his or her designee;
4. The chief executive officer of the community mental health center in Denver, as designated by the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health, or his or her designee;
5. The chief executive officer of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority or his or her designee;
6. The Denver District Attorney or his or her designee. The Denver District Attorney shall appoint the following members:
7. A representative of the juvenile justice system;
8. A person who has experienced a mental health need, or substance use disorder who has been involved in the criminal justice system or a person who has advocated for those with mental health needs or substance use disorders in the criminal justice system.
The Denver City Council shall appoint the following members:
9. A person who has experienced, or is in recovery from, a mental health or substance use disorder.
10. A mental health or substance use treatment provider;
11. A person with expertise in child and youth mental health services;
12. A representative of commercial business interests in the City and County of Denver with an interest in mental health or substance use disorders;
13. A person with experience addressing the mental and/or substance use needs of underserved populations.
The initial appointments made by the mayor shall have a first term of one (1) year, the appointments of the Denver District Attorney shall have a first term of two (2) years. The appointments of the Denver City Council shall have staggered terms, two (2) with a first term of one (1) year, two (2) with a first term of two (2) years and one (1) with a first term of three (3) years. All subsequent terms shall be three (3) years. Members of the board may serve no more than three (3) terms in total. If an appointment remains vacant for more than sixty (60) days, the remainder of the board, by a majority vote, shall fill the vacancy with a person that will closely represent the interests of the vacant member's seat; provided, however, that before the non-profit corporation has been formed and, if necessary, before its status as a tax exempt entity has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), it shall be sufficient that a majority of the board members has been appointed and that majority acts to achieve the aforementioned formation and IRS approval. Nothing in this section shall prevent the board from removing a member as authorized by its bylaws. City officials designated above serve at the pleasure of the mayor.
(3) Meetings of the board shall be treated as public meetings subject to the provisions of Chapter 2, Article III, D.R.M.C. Information shared at the board meetings of the non-profit corporation and final grant awards shall be treated as public records and subject to the provisions of the Colorado Open Records Act, §§ 24-72-201, et seq., C.R.S., as amended.
(4) Commencing January 1, 2020, not less than once annually and no later than the end of the third month of the city's fiscal year, the non-profit corporation shall report to the mayor, the city council, the auditor, and the public the following information from the prior fiscal year:
(i) Audited financial statements for the non-profit corporation, conducted by an independent auditor, including full reports on expenditures for the prior fiscal year and anticipated budgets and work plans for the ensuing fiscal year.
(ii) An annual report that sets forth, at a minimum, a strategic plan progress evaluation, the grants made in each of the funding areas identified, the names of the grantees, the dollar amounts granted to each grantee, the boards of directors and officers of each grantee, and the purposes and proposed impacts of those grants.
(5) Once every five (5) years, the city may issue a request for proposal to solicit a non-profit corporation that may provide spending agency services, in the most efficient and effective manner, to meet the interests and requirements of Article XIV.
(6) In administering the Caring for Denver Fund, or expending any monies derived from the Caring for Denver tax, the non-profit corporation shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of any class listed in section 28-91(b).
(7) The non-profit corporation will share its policy on conflicts of interest with the city and the public. Persons affected by the conflict of interest policy are required to abide by the City and County of Denver's conflict of interest standards as defined in section 2-61, D.R.M.C. No board members shall personally benefit from any grant made by the non-profit corporation for the provision of services. A person who is employed by or serves in a governmental department, division, or agency that provides such services will not be deemed to have "personally benefited" if his or her agency receives monies from the Caring for Denver Fund.
(8) The board of the non-profit corporation shall develop a strategic plan to determine funding priorities. The strategic plan shall be updated no less than every three (3) years and shall include public input into the use of the Caring for Denver Fund.
(9) The Caring for Denver Fund shall supplement rather than supplant the total of city, county, state and federal annual funding for mental health and substance use disorder services collected and administered by the City and County of Denver as of June 30, 2018.
(Ord. No. 301, § 8, 11-6-18; Ord. No. 1000-19, § 1, 10-14-19)
