Officials Weigh Criminal Justice Tax as Wash. City Faces Budget Deficit
What to know
• Tacoma officials are weighing a 0.1% criminal justice sales tax to help address a projected $15 million deficit in the 2027–28 budget after recent voter-rejected levies limited revenue options.
• The tax would not require voter approval under a new state law that also offers a grant program covering up to 75% of salaries for newly hired officers if cities meet de-escalation-training and other criteria.
• Leaders aim to approve the tax before the end of 2025, and the police department is working to ensure compliance with state requirements.
Tacoma city leaders are considering the implementation a 0.1% criminal justice sales tax as the city contends with a budget deficit.
The city is forecasting an $15 million deficit in the 2027-2028 budget. It is part of what officials have called a “structural deficit” – when the city’s expenses exceed its revenues in a way that can’t be addressed with a one-time infusion of cash. As part of a discussion about Tacoma’s revenue strategy earlier this month, City Council members discussed implementing a criminal justice sales tax to help combat the deficit.
The city of Tacoma sought voter approval to increase a handful of tax measures in the last two years: most recently the renewal of the city’s streets levy and in 2024 a fire and public safety levy. Voters rejected both measures, and the city has warned of a “diminished” ability to maintain the city’s infrastructure needs as Tacoma’s existing streets levy is set to expire by early 2026. Both opponents and proponents of the most recent streets levy told The News Tribune that they weren’t surprised that the measure failed, given rising costs and the potential for more tariffs.
A criminal justice sales tax, on the other hand, would not need voter approval. The council could approve it without it going to the ballot, Tacoma’s finance director Andy Cherullo said at its Nov. 12 study session. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 2015 into law in June of this year, which provides cities and counties in Washington the opportunity to either approve a 0.1% sales-and-use tax for criminal justice or to receive funds from the state for criminal justice through a grant.
The state set aside $100 million for the local law enforcement grant program, which seeks to bolster community policing and public safety for cities across Washington. The three-year grant could cover 75% of salaries for newly hired law enforcement officers up to $125,000 to achieve its goal, and the city of Tacoma would need to cover the remaining 25%. Tacoma would need to fit certain criteria in order to apply for grant funding or implement the sales tax – voters cannot have rejected a similar measure in the last two years, and officers must have training on de-escalation tactics.
The city meets some of those qualifications, and leaders at the Tacoma Police Department are working to assess what the department needs to do to become fully compliant with the requirements, Cherullo said at the Nov. 12 study session.
“The legislation does contemplate a 180-day compliance window,” Cherullo said. “So if we are not yet in compliance there [are] 180 days with which to get in compliance.”
Outgoing Mayor Victoria Woodards, who will pass the baton to mayor-elect Anders Ibsen in January 2026, said at the study session that she was in favor of approving the sales tax increase before the end of the year.
Cherullo said if the council approved it by the end of 2025, the tax could go into effect in April of 2026.
“[I’m] very interested in seeing this happen in Tacoma just because we have so many needs,” Woodards said at the meeting.
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