Parks Tacoma finances in disarray. Will outside audit, new committee help?
Parks Tacoma leadership is looking at new ways to strengthen its accountability mechanisms after the agency finalized a controversial proposal to implement $9 million in cuts.
Parks Tacoma announced in fall 2025 it was facing a budget deficit and again in April this year, soon after which the agency’s board asked then-executive director Shon Sylvia to resign. Since Sylvia’s departure, for which he received a half million dollar payout, board members have expressed frustration with the extent of the budget deficit, citing a “crisis of confidence.”
Sylvia’s sudden departure also raised questions about the Parks Tacoma board oversight of Sylvia, who was its sole employee. It came as the board was in the midst of its fourth performance review of Sylvia, who was supposed to be reviewed annually during the nearly 10 years he served as executive director.
Agency leadership has spent months deciding what cuts to implement, settling on a controversial proposal to eliminate millions in funding for beloved after-school programs that Parks Tacoma has long paid for. The board approved the final proposal in a unanimous vote on June 22.
Board president Matt Mauer said after the vote that he was “optimistic” about the agency’s future.
“That was a very sobering thing to finalize and do, but at the same time I’m glad it is now behind us, and we can move towards rebuilding the agency on a much more stable financial footing,” he told The News Tribune.
Parks Tacoma is assembling a finance committee to serve as another check on the agency’s finances, which Mauer anticipates will be done later this summer. The group will consist of Parks Tacoma board members, members of the agency’s Business and Responsive Agency Advisory Council and other advisory committees, he said.
Parks Tacoma also signed a contract with an accounting firm called CLA, also known as CliftonLarsonAllen, to conduct an external audit of the agency’s finances. Mauer said the firm will identify and report back to the board on problem areas in the last biennial budget process and will study Parks Tacoma’s existing financial practices and policies.
The contract that the agency finalized cost $157,500, Parks Tacoma spokesperson Tara Mattina told The News Tribune.
Mauer also said Parks Tacoma leaders will join conversations with leaders from the city of Tacoma and school district to discuss the future of after-school programming in and around Tacoma after Parks Tacoma suddenly eliminated funding for some of those programs as part of its package of cuts this year.
The meeting will help the agencies “get a little bit of a better sense of how after school programming will look into the future and hopefully get it to a point where it is a stabilized funding source,” he said.
