Tacoma City Manager Hyun Kim presented his proposed 2027-28 budget to City Council on Tuesday. The city is working to address a $40 million deficit. To balance the budget, Kim proposed eliminating over 100 city jobs, some programs and increasing revenue.
For years, the city of Tacoma has dealt with a structural deficit as costs outpace revenue. Kim said increased demand for services, higher costs and limits on the city’s revenue growth are shaping the budget problems.
“ The city's current way of delivering services, they just cost more each year, and the revenues are not there to support them,” Kim said. “And that's both a good and bad. I'm not going to say that revenues, new taxes, new charges for services should grow at that level. We just need to find that even balance where we can actually find a way in which we can tackle this.”
The proposed budget would eliminate over 100 city positions in general government departments. Most of those jobs are already vacant because of an earlier hiring freeze. But of those, 35 positions are currently filled. Kim said the city is working to find positions for those people in city departments not funded by the general fund, which is where the deficit is.
“ We are going to do everything in our power administratively to support these employees. We are still working to find placement options if we can,” he said.
If there aren't available positions and the council does decide to move forward with the cuts, impacted staff will be formally notified later this fall.
The proposal also includes changes to business licensing fees, which would result in similar or lower fees for some smaller businesses and increasing fees for the largest-earning businesses in Tacoma.
“This will increase our revenues to the general fund by $6.2 million on a biannual basis, so a little over $3 million,” Kim said. The money will go to public safety.
The proposal also eliminates two alternative response teams that the city has: the Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement and Community Service Officer teams.
The CSOs respond as unarmed, non-uniformed civilians. They respond when there isn't an active crime happening. They can provide enforcement support for traffic control or help someone file a crime report.
Members of the HOPE team respond to mental or behavioral health emergency calls, including those related to substance abuse.
Both teams were created using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“ We just can't afford it unless we make trade-offs, and that's what we're going to be speaking to,” Kim said.
Already, the teams are half-staffed and unable to provide 24-hour response. Kim said there are additional barriers, including the need for other emergency responders to accompany alternative response teams. The city also doesn’t have a center to take people to who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
“Without these spaces, the programs can never be as effective as the community expects,” Kim said.
The proposed budget is available to view on the city website.
Two public hearings have been scheduled on the budget for Oct. 27 and Nov. 10.
Read the audio transcript here.
