Tacoma Fire Department

The Tacoma City Council adopted its next two-year budget, after months of working with city staff to balance for a predicted $24 million structural deficit.

As the city of Tacoma works to manage its $24 million budget deficit, council members have been making decisions on what to cut. At Tuesday’s council meeting, the electeds considered two amendments. The first amendment was brought forward by Council member Jamika Scott, who worked in collaboration with Council member Joe Bushnell to find a way to protect the city’s cash reserve. The initial proposed budget would have used the city’s over $8 million reserve to make up for the shortfall. That’s money the city can use to pay overtime costs for police and fire, fund shelter beds and other emergent costs.

The City of Tacoma has a budget problem; its expenses are higher than its revenue. That means the city has a projected structural deficit of $24 million for the 2025-26 biennial budget.Staff and city council members have been working to balance that, and one thing they’re proposing cutting has a lot of community members upset.