In early May, Tacoma’s general fund was $7.1 million lower than what was budgeted. By this month that shortfall had grown to $11.1 million, threatening, at least on paper, to eclipse nearly $12 million in cuts the city is already planning.

Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson said Friday that the city clearly isn’t where it wants to be, but it also has not reached the point where more drastic measures – such as reductions in city services, or furloughs or layoffs of city employees – are necessary.

Anderson previously recommended $11.7 million in spending cuts, realized throughout 2009 and 2010. They include measures such as not filling vacant staff positions, reducing travel and training, postponing purchases and cutting back on subscriptions.

These cuts would be made under a four-tiered plan that ranges from quick, easy items to Level 4 – a “ Katie-bar-the-door Great Depression.”

Today the city is still in Level 1 and 2 territory, the same as when the shortfall stood at $4.7 million at the end of the first quarter.

When asked whether residents should look for a level of shortfall that would indicate things have really gone off the rails, Anderson said, “It isn’t that easy.”

Noting that an $11 million shortfall is only 2.5 percent of the city’s $440 million general fund, he said: “It’s a lot of money but it’s a big system.”

There are a few other things that residents should understand about the general fund, Anderson said.

First, the taxes that will feed it over the next two fiscal years don’t come in 24 equal installments. Property taxes are disbursed unequally, and sales tax collections tend to be highest around the holiday shopping season.

Second, the city is operating on a two-year plan based on roughly U-shaped economic forecasts that expect a decline until the end of this year and then an upswing in 2010.

After June’s numbers come in, Anderson will make a report to the City Council about where he thinks things stand and how the city might react.

He said the city can make the planned $12 million in cuts without affecting services.

So why wasn’t Tacoma taking advantage of those savings previously? Anderson said the financial crisis has forced the city to find efficiencies and new ways of doing things.

“It doesn’t mean we’re less effective,” he said. “It means we evolve over time.”

Ian Demsky: 253-597-8872

ian.demsky@thenewstribune.com