Tacoma proposes a $4 billion budget. What is in it and how will it affect your bills?
Tacoma city manager Elizabeth Pauli presented the city’s $4.347 billion biennium budget last week that addresses a $24 million deficit and issues facing Tacoma.
The budget focuses on funding for affordable housing and homelessness, community safety, living-wage jobs, health and the city’s beliefs and trust.
“It is our hope, and it’s my belief, that this proposed budget will continue the forward momentum of transforming both how we meet the basic needs of our community as we move strategically toward the community’s vision for Tacoma’s future,” Pauli said at last week’s budget presentation.
A final budget will be adopted Nov. 22.
Over the next two years, 53 percent, or $2.9 billion of the total budget, would be spent on utilities and enterprise funds, which includes Tacoma Public Utilities, environmental services and other enterprise funds, like Tacoma Dome, Greater Tacoma Convention Center, parking and permitting. Retirement, trust and agency funds, and special revenue funds, such as Tacoma Creates, is 25% of the budget, or $1.08 billion. The general fund, which provides a flexible spending resource for the city, is 14%, or $614 million, of the budget. And, 6% of the budget is for internal service funds, which includes human resources, city manager’s office and finance.
General fund revenues come from sales tax, property tax, business tax and utility tax. The sales tax has done well over the last two years, said Katie Johnston, the city’s budget officer. She added during economic growth or price increases, sales tax revenues can go up, but is also unreliable. For the 2023-2024 budget, sales tax is expected to generate $147.1 million, which is the city’s largest revenue source, followed by property tax at $135.5 million, business tax at $120.6 million and utility tax at $108.1 million.
In the proposed budget’s general fund, $210.23 million is for police and $151.68 million is for fire, which together makes up 60% of the city’s general fund.
Mayor Victoria Woodards said it’s the city’s “paramount duty to keep our community safe.”
Pauli said the budget would address significant council priority areas of affordable housing, homelessness, community safety and access, with no reduction made to those priority areas, including staffing.
For affordable housing and homelessness, the city would spend $101.4 million:
$3.8 for affordable housing, which includes building and land acquisition, down-payment assistance, tenant relocation assistance, affordable housing infrastructure and permit staffing to prioritize affordable housing projects.
$16.1 million to maintain emergency and temporary capacity, expand shelter capacity for 50 additional beds and 50 vehicles in safe parking, expand Tacoma Rescue Mission’s shelter and Tacoma Rescue Mission’s operating costs.
$1.2 million for staff support to add contract and program auditor for affordable housing, shelter training academy, enhance homelessness engagement and alternatives team and maintain housing rehabilitation staff.
The city relied on one-time funding for temporary and emergency shelter services to maintain and expand services and is facing the end of some of those funding resources, Pauli said.
“If this proposal isn’t moved forward, we would be looking at closing some of our sheltering opportunities in the community, and it would slow our momentum,” she said. “Our momentum has included almost doubling our sheltering efforts since the declaration of emergency in 2017.”
Pauli proposed major budget initiatives for community safety, such as:
$113,000 for extending peace and reconciliation coordinator.
$113,000 for increasing forensic staffing to implement 24/7 staffing for crime scene services.
$495,000 for increasing police training and equipment budget to support new recruit costs.
$335,000 for increasing safety and community support in libraries.
$151,000 for maintaining essential expenditures supporting operations of Crystal Judson Family Justice Center.
$375,000 for establishing a graffiti response team with Solid Waste Excise Tax.
The Solid Waste Excise Tax is a 6% tax on customers’ solid waste bills, which would be $3 a month per 60 gallon container. The tax, if approved, would begin in April and generate $7 million for homeless encampment response, litter and debris removal, sanitation support and communication and bill payment assistance.
The community safety budget includes funding to continue its operations for municipal court and transition of its mental health calendar to develop a community court. It also includes focused hiring in the Tacoma Police Department.
Pauli also proposed funding for alternative response, with $591,000 for homelessness and $824,000 for a pilot of alternative response with behavioral health response unit and community service officers and community safety plan.
Proposed funding for access, which includes Vision Zero, Transportation Master Plan and the city’s comprehensive plan, is $457 million to improve access and proximity by residents of diverse income levels and race/ethnicity to community facilities, services, infrastructure and employment.
Pauli said the funding for access projects needs to cover the increased cost of construction, Home in Tacoma Phase 2 and federal funding demands and grant matching.
The major budget initiatives include:
$5.9 million for maintenance enhancements, such as increased service levels for Tidy-Up Tacoma and trail maintenance, unfit and unsafe sidewalk funding, maintain bridge operations;
$4.5 million for pedestrian and Vision Zero improvements;
$10.8 million for facility access improvements, like renovations to Tacoma Public Library’s main library and Asia Pacific Cultural Center capital contribution;
$10.5 million for other, like grant matching and for higher costs for Public Works capital projects.
For living wage jobs, the proposed budget allocation is $12 million to address green economy, equity in contracting, talent solutions and internships, apprenticeships, job training and pipelines.
Pauli proposed $284 million for health initiatives, which would include:
$824,000 for a behavioral health response unit pilot in the fire department, which would add two staff members;
$3.7 million for litter and debris response, through solid waste excise tax;
continuing satellite recycling stations cleanliness and maintenance;
maintaining food insecurity service levels;
maintaining funding for the health pool;
the Climate Action Plan.
Pauli proposed $32 million for belief and trust, the final priority area. The funding would go toward enhancing constituent services, reorganizing media and communications office positions consistent with the communication study and extending participatory budgeting to districts 1, 3 and 5.
To address the city’s deficit, the budget office looked at how the city could reduce its expenses by:
$2 million for decreasing its repair and replacement budget by $2 million.
$1.5 million for evaluating vacancy projections based on historic trends, excluding police, fire and library.
Filling positions at lower levels.
Reducing printing and graphic services and mailing budgets.
Small contract decreases.
The office also re-aligned expenses to fund the $1.5 million for the streets initiative contribution from real estate excise tax, moved $1.6 million in fire department support services to EMS funding and housing staff support to special revenue and grant funding.
City staff have already proposed several revenue options: the excise tax on customers’ solid waste bills, a business license fee increase and Tacoma Public Utilities rate increase.
The business and occupation tax also performed better, Johnston said.
Budget presentations to the City Council started Tuesday. The city also will host three virtual community town halls to receive feedback on the budget The 2023-2024 biennial budget will be considered for adoption on Nov. 15 for its first reading and Nov. 22 for its final reading.
