• A golf course concession contract that extends up to 50 years.
• A house that comes with a golf course concession.
• A contract that goes to the license owner’s estate without needing city approval.

Parks & Recreation is one of the largest city departments with a $93 million annual budget and about 240 contracts.

Now, taxpayer money is under the microscope. The Denver City Auditor is presently re-auditing the department after Fred Weiss, the Director of Finance, disagreed with key recommendations from an audit this summer.

“The inherent risk level goes up when they disagree over these kinds of recommendations for documentation, for proper segregation of duties,” said Timothy O’Brien, Denver’s City Auditor. “Yes, it concerns me. We will do more auditing.”

WATCH VIDEO HERE

This summer, O’Brien released an audit raising questions about so called “unique contract terms” in Denver Parks & Recreation agreements, especially at city-owned golf courses.

For example, at Wellshire golf course the contract for the concessionaire, Wellshire Event center, has a highly unusual length — extending up to fifty years.

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