First look at Tacoma’s proposed ’21-22 budget shows cuts to police department spending
Tacoma shared this week its preliminary budget for the next two years, which includes a reduction to the city’s police department of roughly $3 million compared to the last budget cycle.
Overall, the draft budget shows a decrease in the police department general fund budget from $175,483,381 in 2019-20 to $172,318,197 in 2021-22.
A total of $9 million in reductions are proposed, including:
$5.9 million in position savings. That means the city plans not to hire for 25 positions that were vacant in addition to the elimination of a hiring sergeant and background investigator.
$1.9 million in delaying fleet replacements.
$2 million in oversight adjustments. That means the city moved tasks to other departments, such as management of the City’s Red Light and Speed Camera program from TPD to the Public Works Department and moving the information technology (IT) oversight within the police department to the city’s IT Department.
The cuts were offset by wage and benefit increases that have previously occurred in the police department, union contract costs and other adjustments totaling around $6 million, leading to the $3 million total decrease.
The budget also adds roughly $1.7 million to the police budget to implement body cameras, which are expected to roll out sometime in early 2021.
TPD spokesperson Wendy Haddow said the budget is subject to change prior to final approval at the end of November. The department will present their budget to the City Council on Tuesday.
Focus on police spending
Tacoma’s total budget for the 2021-22 biennium is $3.67 billion. The general fund — which includes police, fire, library, public works and neighborhood services — totals $505.23 million.
The Tacoma Police Department makes up 34 percent of the city’s general fund budget.
TPD’s general fund budget has increased in each adopted budget cycle since 2011, according to city documents. In the 2017-18 city budget, police were allocated roughly $155 million, jumping to $175 million in the 2019-20 budget.
In June, the City Council announced it was embarking on a “systems transformation” effort to take a deeper look at department spending, including police. The action came at a time when protests were being held in Tacoma and across the nation in support of Black Lives Matter in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Tacoma also hit the national spotlight after a medical examiner’s report determined Manuel Ellis died after being restrained by Tacoma police in March.
Public surveys collected for the 2021-22 budget during June and July also yielded a large number of responses from Tacomans who are in support of cutting police funding and putting that money towards other areas, like housing and social services.
In a presentation to City Council on Tuesday, City Manager Elizabeth Pauli said staff was responsive to feedback.
“We heard loudly and clearly from the community that we need transformation,” Pauli said.
Other efforts
In addition to reducing the police department authority to spend on staffing, Pauli highlighted other actions the city is taking in the next budget cycle, including setting aside $500,000 for an Office of Community Safety and adding a two-year Project PEACE Phase II position. Project PEACE is an initiative launched by the city in 2015 meant to mend relationships and form trust between the community and police.
According to city spokesperson Maria Lee, the position’s duties might include:
- Supporting the activities of the Project PEACE Executive Team.
- Providing staffing support to the Citizens’ Police Advisory Committee (CPAC).
- Organizing and implementing community engagement efforts on community safety with a focus on Black/African American individuals, families and communities.
- Communicating progress and accomplished goals of the Project PEACE recommendations and providing reports on progress to the council.
Pauli said the budget also provides funding to support a study of police calls for service to identify which calls could be diverted to other departments.
“We’re getting data back already that suggests there’s support for transitioning at least 16 percent of calls for service and perhaps more as we dive deeper,” she said.
The city is also allocating funding for a Behavioral Health Response Unit through TFD Cares, Tacoma Fire Department’s non-emergency response service.
“This will add nursing staff and behavioral health staff to really provide the support for wrap-around services to those that might otherwise simply get an emergency response,” Pauli said.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 5:05 AM.
