Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has postponed until fall a measure that would have raised the salaries of a dozen top executives.

The proposed adjustments would have raised the salaries of 12 agency directors by nearly 44% on July 1, totaling nearly $500,000 in additional expenditures, most of which would have been absorbed by the city’s General Fund.

A dozen of Denver mayor's executives eye almost $500K in pay raises

“Shifting this discussion to the fall will allow for a more complete conversation as we work through the nuances and specifics of an uncertain economic year for Denver and the country,” the Mayor’s office said in a statement Saturday morning.

The proposed new salaries were as follows:

• Nicole Doheny, chief financial officer: $266,162 (+43.6%)
• Anne-Marie Braga, Denver Human Services: $231,923 (+31.9%)
• Al Gardner, General Services: $221,470 (+24.9%)
• City attorney (filled by acting director): $268,479 (+24.3%)
• Amy Ford, Transportation and Infrastructure: $240,676 (+23.3%)
• Jolon Clark, Parks and Recreation: $207,454 (+21.7%)
• Phil Washington, Denver International Airport: $406,511 (+17.2%)
• Manish Kumar, Planning and Development: $216,077 (+17.3%)
• Armando Saldate, Public Safety: $240,826 (+16.6%)
• Molly Duplechian, Excise and Licenses: $176,800 (+14.5%)
• Karin McGowan, Public Health and Environment: $210,972, (+11.8%)
• Perla Gheiler, Human Rights and Community Partnerships: $176,800 (+4%)

The reasoning for the proposal was that the dozen positions targeted in the measure rarely see salary adjustments due to certain provisions in the city charter, officials said Saturday morning. The adjustment, which has only happened once in the last nine years, would make it easier to recruit and retain people in the listed roles.

But some committee members were worried about the optics of the proposal, considering the city is already predicting possible budget cuts and “flat revenue” in the coming year.

The measure had cleared the Finance and Governing Committee last week and was slated to go to City Council for its first reading on May 19 before being tabled until the fall.

Denver Gazette Reporter Deborah Grigsby contributed to this report.