Denver City Council members said Monday that they are ready to overrule Mayor Mike Johnston if he doesn’t put millions more dollars behind emergency rental assistance in next year’s budget.

The legislative muscle flexing played out on the City and County Building steps ahead of a meeting at which the council held a public hearing focused on the city’s proposed $4 billion 2024 budget. There was significant support for increased rental assistance during that budget hearing.

Backed by dozens of supporters and some of her council colleagues, Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore zeroed in on a $14.5 million gap between what 12 council members believe is an appropriate amount of rental assistance funding for Denver households next year and what the mayor so far has said he would commit to that program.

In the weeks ahead, the council will have the opportunity to vote on amendments to Johnston’s proposed budget and the mayor will have the option to veto those amendments. A mayoral veto can be overridden with a super-majority vote of at least nine of the 13 council members. When it comes to rental assistance, Gilmore wants Johnston to know that a supermajority is in place.

“I implore Mayor Johnston to either reconsider his stance or we have the votes there within council,” Gilmore said. “This is the time for us to bring forward the people’s voice and make sure that we’re protecting them, especially in regard to their housing.”

The rally was the latest in a budget tug of war between the reshaped council and the new mayor elected this spring.

The council earlier this month issued 28 requests for Johnston and his administration to alter the proposed 2024 budget. Those added up more than $81 million in additional spending. Johnston responded with $10.6 million in adjustments, setting up the potential for a more contentious budget process than seen under Johnston’s predecessor, Michael Hancock.

Rental assistance is among the biggest fissures between the two sides. The council asked Johnston to up contributions to the city’s emergency rental assistance program by $17.5 million next year for a total of $30.1 million. Johnson responded by pushing $3 million more into that pot for $15.6 million in total.

In his reply letter to the council’s requests, Johnston referenced his obligation to present a balanced budget while ensuring the city has strong reserves and can maintain critical public services.

The Hancock administration dedicated $10.4 million to emergency rental and utility payment assistance in 2023. But that came in additional to more than $130 million in federal support paid out to struggling Denver renters dating back to 2021 to offset the economic devastation of the pandemic. On Monday night, the council signed off on a $3 million amendment to a contract with an organization that operates as the Community Economic Defense Project and has already paid out more rental assistance than the city provided funding for this year.

The group was one of the groups that organized Monday’s rally. It also served as a contractor that helped distribute federal dollars to renters at risk of eviction over the last few years. Elina Rodriguez, the group’s head of policy advocacy, said that $30.1 million is estimated to be the minimum rental assistance needed in Denver next year.

“We actually estimated that $55 million would be the right amount to get this city over the hump of the eviction crisis that we’re seeing,” she said.

Denver landlords are on pace to file upward of 12,000 evictions this year, according to Denver County Court figures. That would be by far the most over the last five years. The previous high-water mark was 9,249 filings in 2019.

Gilmore was joined by Councilmembers Sarah Parady, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Paul Kashmann at Monday’s event. Councilwoman Shontel Lewis was unable to attend but a staff member read a statement in her place.

Kashmann referenced Johnston’s homelessness initiative — an effort through which the mayor hopes to bring 1,000 people off the street and into shelter or housing both this year and next at a combined cost of roughly $89 million — in his comments Monday. The councilman supports that goal but failing to fund sufficient rental assistance could make things worse.

“If we don’t do something to shut down the pipeline that keeps pushing good people out onto the street, the problem’s not only going to increase, it’s going to magnify,” Kashmann said.

Council members are hopeful the additional money can be found by trimming other spending in the budget or decreasing how much the city sets aside for reserves.