Roadmap to Recovery
As the City of Tacoma continues to navigate the realities of a structural deficit, we have launched a coordinated effort called the Roadmap to Recovery to safeguard our long-term sustainability while improving our ability to efficiently and responsibly serve our community.
This Work is Not Just a Response to Financial Challenges
These are decisive steps we would take even in times of abundance because they represent responsible stewardship, modern business practices, and our ongoing commitment to delivering high quality programs and services to the people of Tacoma.
Over time though, the City’s expenses have grown significantly faster than revenues. Without structural change, we will continue to rely on short-term fixes, deferred investments, and reactive budgeting. The Roadmap to Recovery is about discipline and transparency. It is a commitment to do fewer things better so we can sustainably deliver the core services our community relies on.
Why the Roadmap to Recovery is Necessary
Tacoma faces a structural budget gap driven by expenses growing roughly twice as fast as revenues. The Roadmap to Recovery shifts the City from reactive adjustments to structural alignment. It is about boldly strengthening our foundation now so we can build the future our community deserves. If unaddressed, this imbalance could:
- Increase reliance on one-time funding and temporary measures
- Reduce the City’s flexibility to respond to economic changes
- Defer maintenance and increase long-term risk
- Limit the City Council’s ability to make intentional, policy-driven choices
What the City Has Done So Far on the Road to Recovery
Hiring and Discretionary Spending Controls
In 2025, the City Manager implemented a citywide hiring and discretionary spending freeze. Departments delayed non-critical hires and reduced discretionary expenditures. Across General Government, these actions generated an estimated $4.8 million in savings in 2025 alone. The City is strengthening that approach in 2026 by transitioning from informal restraint to structured, criteria-based review processes supported by data dashboards and executive oversight.
We will continue to evaluate all external spending to align with organizational priorities and service delivery.
Frozen Position Savings for 2026
Public Safety Overtime and Staffing Strategies
The Police Lateral Program accelerated the hiring of experienced officers, allowing quicker deployment and helping reduce reliance on overtime. Ongoing monitoring of overtime drivers is informing further management strategies. Citywide, we are evaluating scheduling models that can reduce premium pay while maintaining service continuity.
Revenue Strategy
The City has advanced a multi-pronged revenue strategy to strengthen long-term funding capacity, including:
- Tacoma Creates reauthorization
- Transportation Impact Fees
- Criminal Justice/Public Safety 1/10th of 1 Percent Sales & Use Tax
These efforts support structural stability while preserving service levels.
Organizational and Operational Efficiencies
The Road to Recovery is an opportunity for organizational alignment. We can modernize how we work and structure ourselves to better serve the community today and into the future. Our focus is on aligning people, processes, and resources so that we can deliver core services more effectively and sustainably. We are evaluating opportunities for consolidation or realignment where it strengthens service delivery and reduces unnecessary complexity. Reducing management layers where appropriate will support clearer decision-making, faster communication, and more empowered teams. We will also be aligning teams around shared outcomes to help ensure our limited resources are focused on the highest-value work—even as we acknowledge that funding constraints limit our ability to do everything.
Recent actions demonstrate a shift toward organizational and operational efficiency:
- Environmental Services and Public Works will consolidate into one department starting on January 1, 2027. This consolidation will strengthen service delivery, eliminate silos, and align operational functions for greater efficiency. It will also result in the elimination of a Department Director.
- Formation of the Center for Strategic Priorities to streamline coordination and reduce administrative overhead
- Pilot initiatives in concurrent permitting and business engagement/BEST Team
- Ongoing asset management enhancements to better understand long-term risk and cost
Read City Manager Hyun Kim’s message to employees about the Roadmap to Recovery (May 8, 2026).
View the Roadmap to Recovery Handout Presented at the May 12, 2026, City Council Study Session
How the Roadmap to Recovery Will Operate: We're Changing How We Make Financial and Operational Decisions
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The City is moving from incremental budgeting to a more intentional approach that:
- Encourages oversubscription of credible proposals to provide the City Council with real choices
- Establishes clear expectations for sustainable solutions
- Relies on data informed strategy by monitoring vacancy rates, overtime, and discretionary spending on executive dashboards
- Aligns department planning with long-term financial forecasts
This represents a shift from managing annual gaps to reshaping the cost trajectory.
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The Roadmap to Recovery is accompanied by measurable indicators so leadership and the community can see progress. Key efforts include:
- Development of fiscal and operational dashboards
- Performance measures for high-impact public-facing processes
- Overtime tracking and trend analysis
- Asset condition and risk visibility
These tools support evidence-based decision-making rather than anecdotal adjustments.
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We are pursuing efficiencies that either reduce cost or improve service quality without increasing expense. Examples include:
- Conducting a comprehensive assessment of departmental structure and reorganize where necessary
- Evaluating public safety overtime management strategies
- Making asset management improvements to reduce long-term risk
- Redesigning the Management Fellow program to reduce administrative overhead
The focus is sustainable service delivery, not temporary reductions.
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Because wages and benefits represent a significant portion of the City’s budget, long-term sustainability requires disciplined workforce strategy. Through Executive Team alignment and labor-related planning efforts, the City is focused on:
- Optimizing total compensation structures
- Managing retirement and healthcare cost growth
- Ensuring compensation remains competitive but sustainable
- Investing in workforce development and retention
The goal is to balance fiscal responsibility with attracting and retaining high-quality talent.
The Roadmap to Recovery is a Shift in Operating Philosophy
The Roadmap to Recovery is not a single budget cycle initiative. It is a shift in operating philosophy — from growth by default to intentional stewardship. By aligning financial discipline, operational efficiency, performance measurement, and long-term workforce strategy, Tacoma can sustainably deliver core services while maintaining flexibility for future priorities.
The work has begun. The focus now is disciplined execution over multiple biennia to ensure durable fiscal balance and continued public trust. The Roadmap to Recovery is about boldly strengthening our foundation now so we can build the future our community deserves.