I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of February 24th, 2026.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

President.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Heinz.

Councilmember Palmer.

Here.

Councilmember Rumba here.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here.

Mayor Ibsen?

Here.

Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by Councilmember Palmer, followed by a moment of silence.

We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Puala people where they make their home and speak the Lushutsi language.

If you so choose, please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence.

Liberty and Justice R.

Are there any modifications to the agenda this evening?

Seeing none, we'll move on to the consent agenda.

We now have the consent agenda before us for consideration.

I move to adopt the consent agenda including the final reading of ordinance number two nine zero nine zero.

We've been seconded.

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those posed say nay.

Consent agenda is declared adopted.

We have two ceremonials tonight.

For the day of solidarity with the people of Ukraine proclamation, I'd like to invite uh Ms.

Yulia Divkivska, Chair of the Tacoma Bravari Sister City Committee and a member of the Ukrainian community.

And uh Vladimir Poprovnik, head of advocacy, Ukrainian Association of Washington State to the podium as I read the proclamation.

Please join us.

Whereas on March 1st, 2022, the Tacoma City Council passed resolution 40920 expressing support for Tacoma's sister city in Bravari, Ukraine, and in February of 2023, 2024 and 2025 proclaimed a day of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

And whereas the 24th of February marks the four-year anniversary since Russia has launched an unprovoked and unjustified attack and occupation of Ukraine that has killed and injured many Ukrainian citizens.

And whereas Ukraine has maintained a special bond with the United States, demonstrated by Ukraine's deployment of its military personnel alongside U.S.

troops and operations like those in Afghanistan and Iraq, reflecting its consistent support for NATO missions over the past 30 years.

And whereas Tacoma and Bravari, Ukraine, have maintained a unique sister city relationship since 2017, marked by meaningful exchanges and our local communities' efforts to donate resources and a surplus abundance that have supported their resilience.

And whereas the Ukrainian community in Tacoma has shown extraordinary resolve in organizing humanitarian aid efforts and maintaining crucial support for their homeland in its fight for sovereignty.

And whereas the city of Tacoma condemns Russia's unconscionable invasion and gross violations of human rights and war crimes against the Ukrainian people, whose invasion is putting the people of both countries in the way of unnecessary harm.

Now, therefore, I, Andrews Ibsen, mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do Hebrew proclaim Tuesday, February 224th, 2026, as day of solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the City of Tacoma, and urge all residents of Tacoma to stand in support of the Ukrainian people and their struggle for freedom.

We acknowledge their indomitable strength and determination in the face of brutal aggression and commemorate this day as a testament to the enduring spirit of Ukraine, emphasizing our collective belief in a brighter tomorrow, free from oppression.

Slava Ukraini, Yislava Goral.

Please say a few words.

Mayor, Council members, and Tacoma residents.

Today marks exactly four years since time stopped for us.

On February 24th, 2022, life for every Ukrainian was instantly and violently divided into before and after.

For four years, my people have fought for simplest and the sacred rights, the right to exist, the right to speak their language, the right to stand on our ancestral soil without fear.

As an educator, I spend all my life teaching my students to find their voices.

But I was forced to leave my own motherland because I refuse to stay silent in the face of enemy.

I'm here for my mother, who often has electricity for two hours a day and must cook over an open fire in the bit and cold.

I'm here for my sister, who spends her nights awake from awake from their piercing scream measles over her house, and who, like so many other Ukrainians, has had to find this trends to survive.

Wake up in the morning and work every each day.

And those who will never ever be able to see the eyes of their mothers.

In Ukraine today, in the heart of Europe, there is no such a thing as a safe place left.

But I truly believe in the power of your support.

When you stand up with us, you stand up with all Ukraine.

You are telling the families praying to wake up alive tomorrow that they are not forgotten.

You're giving hope to those living in the darkness that the light of humanity has not gone out.

With your permission, I wish to share this proclamation with Broberry, which is Tacoma's sister city and my native city.

It is because of bond between these two cities.

I am able to find home here in Tacoma and stand and stand before you.

Thank you for this recognition.

Sorry, thank you for standing with Ukraine.

And above all, thank you for remembering us.

Slava Ukraini.

Anyone else from the council would like to comment or any of our other speakers?

Had a brief comment prepared.

Mayor, council members, and all residents of the great city of Tacoma, thank you for this proclamation and for recognizing the fourth year of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

While hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced, Tacoma has not stood on the sidelines.

This city and its residents have shown up through humanitarian fundraising, welcoming displaced families, supporting local Ukrainian organizations, and raising your voices for freedom and democracy.

Your solidarity sends a message far beyond this community or even just Washington state.

On behalf of Ukraine, Ukrainian Americans across our state, and the Ukrainian Association of Washington State, thank you for standing with us, not just today, but every day.

Thank you.

Are there any uh other comments from members of the council?

Seeing none, well, please come forward and accept the proclamation.

Will you please join me in giving these brave people a round of applause?

Of course.

Thank you.

Okay.

One, two, three.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

All right, our second proclamation is proclaiming February 27th through March 8th as Tacoma Beer Week.

For the Tacoma Beer Week proclamation, I'd like to invite Kylie Palmer, Communications Manager for Tacoma Beer Week, and Matthew McLaren, director of Tacoma Beer Week to the podium as I read the proclamation.

Come on up.

Whereas Tacoma has developed into a dynamic hub for craft brewing, building upon a historic foundation that stretches back more than 100 years and continues to grow and innovate.

And whereas Tacoma Beer Week, established in 2014, brings together breweries, venues, and community partners in an annual celebration of craft beer through fun, innovative, and educational activities while boosting neighborhood commerce.

And whereas the week highlights the creativity and passion of local brewers, offering both residents and visitors the opportunity to experience Tacoma as a premier beer destination.

And whereas the 2026 schedule features tastings, special releases, collaborative projects, live music, charitable efforts, and community focused gatherings that invite both longtime beer enthusiasts and first-time participants to explore Tacoma's inclusive beer scene.

And whereas this event is made possible through the dedication of a small yet mighty group of volunteers who work year-round to ensure the event's success and the continued growth of Tacoma's vibrant brewing culture.

And whereas the city is proud to support Tacoma Beer Week, recognizing its impact on the local economy, its role in strengthening community spirit, and the individuals and businesses who continue to shape Tacoma's brewing community.

Now, therefore, I, Andrews Ibsen, mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim Friday, February 27th through Sunday, March 8th, as Tacoma Beer Week in the City of Tacoma, and invite both residents and visitors to celebrate and experience the distinctive flavors and strong sense of community that characterizes Tacoma's craft brew culture, beer culture.

Please say a few words.

Thank you so much, Mayor and Council members for this recognition.

Tacoma's been home to breweries since the early days of the founding.

Since 2014, Tacoma Beer Week has acted as a conduit to bring the community together.

This is evidence in the 16 beer collaborations being released this week, which my director Matt will speak about.

Thank you guys very much.

So yeah, our our goal is of course to you know encourage people to come uh connect with local businesses in meaningful ways, uh, which collaboration seems to be the best way to do that for beer week.

And so we've lined up yeah, 16 different beers, and uh it's with different businesses uh around Tacoma, Manifesto Coffee, uh Erica's world's best Mexican desserts over on PACAV, small staple businesses that uh are oftentimes the center point for many of the different cultures that exist in Tacoma.

And want to highlight those those places of business and give people a reason to visit them if they don't know they exist.

Uh we also connect uh residents of Tacoma with the businesses by encouraging local home brewers who might not be in the industry but make beer at their house uh to connect with uh professional breweries and make their own recipes on big systems, and I think it kind of fosters a uh a deeper connection than just commerce, and it's uh a way to make Tacoma's businesses uh reliant on each other in a meaningful way, and then also give Tacoma residents a way to connect with the businesses that are the lifeblood of the city.

So we have as of an hour ago, 10 days, up to 50 events, 30 locations, 16 beer collaborations, and 80 partners, including eleven nonprofit and giving opportunities.

As we mentioned, lab music, board games, axe throwing, dot throwing, trivia, be can beer can derby food, and of course, beer.

And for us as a team, most of us who are here today, it's a privilege to bring this community together and create an easy way for folks to visit their maybe new to them neighborhoods, new to them venues, meet new people, get out and about, um, connect with each other and celebrate the things that make this city such a great place in which to live, work, and play.

So thank you very much for this honor.

Thank you.

Are there any council comments?

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just have a question.

Where where could folks find all this information about these events?

Do you have a website?

Fabulous question.

I'm so glad you asked that.

Head to Tacoma Beerwake.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Tacoma Beer Wake.

Great.

Thank you so much.

I'm excited to partake.

Aren't we all?

Well, very good.

Well, thank you so much.

Uh please come forward and accept the proclamation and uh let's uh join me in giving these folks a round of applause.

All right.

Okay, let's say one, two, three.

One more.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Moving on to public comment.

On tonight's agenda, there are two opportunities for people to comment.

Under public comment, you can speak about motions, resolutions, and ordinances on tonight's agenda, except for ordinance number 29090, for which a public hearing has already been held.

Under community forum, which is held at the end of this meeting, you can speak about items over which the city council has jurisdiction.

These forums are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council and to aid in our decision making and is not meant to be a back and forth dialogue.

Your remarks should be directed to the city council and not at individual staff members or council members.

If you want to speak under the public comment period, press the raise hand button if you're attending virtually near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone now, so we can see the number of people wishing to testify this evening.

If you're speaking in person, please sign up at the back of the room if you have not done so already.

Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when it's your turn to speak.

Public comment.

Clerk, please read.

This is the time set aside for public comment.

Speakers are asked to identify the specific legislation they wish to address.

I'd like to remind everyone to please keep your comments respectful, relevant, focused, and on topic.

We strive to provide a comment period where people can feel respected while sharing a wide variety of viewpoints and acknowledge that we may hear comments that conflict with our values.

To ensure that all speakers can express their First Amendment constitutional rights, we ask that you refrain from clapping, cheering, booing, or otherwise being disruptive.

You will have 90 seconds to make your remarks, and please be mindful of that time frame.

As always, you are not required to use all your time to make your point.

If you cannot remain on topic, you'll be given two warnings.

If you remain off topic, we will have to move on and we'll end your time.

And with that, uh we have a few people who've signed in for public comment.

Michelle Reich, followed by Kyle Jolly Boys, followed by Sean Egan.

Michelle Reich.

Um speaking to the Ukrainian solidary.

He is Russian and his wife is Ukrainian.

And I don't want to speak about the Ukrainian war because it has a tragedy for both sides and everybody involved.

But before the war started four years ago, there was the Maidan Revolution or coup d'etat, however you want to put it.

And during that period, the nationalists started attacking their ethnic Ukrainians that spoke Russian, which is 11 million people spoke Ukrainian uh Russian in Ukraine, and most of them in the Eastern Luhansk and Donetsk Republic.

And during that civil war that preceded the four years of this war, uh five thousand Russian speaking Ukrainians were killed in Dunats and Luhans in the civil war before became uh intervention of Russia.

So I want to tell you this to keep things in perspective.

How a civil war murdered into a larger war.

And also tens of thousands of ethnic Ukrainians fled to Russia to avoid that civil war before the current war is taking place.

So I just want to put all that in perspective there.

And National Geographic made an article that called.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Our next speaker is Kyle Jolly Boys, followed by Sean Eakin.

Mayor, my name's Carl Jolly Boys.

I live on Broadway.

My name's Carl Jolly Boys, and I'm an alcoholic.

And I want to talk about beer week.

I did my drinking in Tacoma.

I put my car through Tacoma Tennyson Lawn Club Brick Wall, which is now wrought to iron.

I got sober in Tacoma.

I had a judge Larkin believe in me when I was sentenced to two years in prison for three DUIs.

I got 90 days.

Today, Mayor is 30 years, six months, and four days without a drink.

And I remember when we had beer gay in Tacoma.

Now it's beer weak.

What message is this sending to children?

To young adults.

And I'll give you some facts and data.

When I got sober, the average age was 43.

I was 28.

12% of people who enter treatment recovery will die sober.

12%.

And I made a commitment on August 20th, 1995, that I will be in that 12%.

So I like you guys to think about what messages is sending Tacoma.

Thank you, Kyle.

And a serious congratulations on third years.

That's incredible.

Thank you, Mayor.

Of course.

Our last in-person speaker is Mr.

Sean Egan.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor, members of city council.

My name is Sean Egan, and I'm here tonight on behalf of the Port of Tacoma signing in an opposition to ordinance 2905 adopting stormwater system development charges.

SCCs are authorized under RCW 35.92025 to quote connect to the water or sewage system of a city or town.

The port believes that it is reasonable for the city to charge connection fees for developments that connect to the system.

However, we believe that it is inappropriate to charge a connection fee for developments that do not connect to the system.

We also believe that if a developer already makes improvements to the city system, all the way from the development to the outstormwater outfall as a condition of the permit, they should not be charged twice.

This idea is not unique.

The city of Seattle, for example, does not charge STCs on Port of Seattle developments that do not connect to the city system and are managed independently by the port.

We have repeatedly met with city staff to explore compromises and have essentially heard nothing but no.

And while every council member with whom we have met with met with have agreed that our requests sound reasonable, we note that the ordinance before you remains unchanged.

Adoption of the SECs will impact the Port of Tacoma's future investment decisions that we believe unfortunately will be to the detriment of our community's economic development.

As such, we oppose ordinance 29085.

Thanks.

Thank you, Sean.

That does it for our in-person speakers.

We have two virtual speakers signed in.

Trisha Shablum, followed by Erin Hollenberg.

Hello.

Good evening.

Okay, there we go.

Hi.

Um I'm sorry I had to do it this way.

Um, but I appreciate the time.

I have been trying to get hold of Jamika through um her uh ma'am.

Please direct your council your comments to the council as a whole.

Please continue.

Oh, okay.

Well, yes, I've I've gone down to the municipal building several times.

I filled out forms, and I have not gotten anywhere.

I started in October, it's now February 2025.

Uh ma'am, I apologize for interrupting.

Is this related to an item that's on tonight's agenda?

No, it's not.

To be perfectly blunt, just out of respect for your time and other people's.

Uh, the purpose of public comment is for things in tonight's agenda.

If you have uh commentary on anything that's directly to things that the council as a whole has jurisdiction over, you're welcome to speak at community forum.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

Okay, thank you for the time.

That's I have not been able to.

I understand.

I appreciate your time, but we're gonna move on to the next speaker.

So the next person in line is Mr.

Aaron Hollenberg.

Good evening, council.

Uh uh, thank you, Mayor and Council members for the record.

My name's Aaron Hollenberg, uh, here on behalf of the Master Builders Association of Pierce County.

Uh speaking to the ordinances develop uh dealing with the system development charges, uh, I'm gonna echo, I guess our our comments echo the concerns the port shared, but I'm gonna for this time here.

I'm gonna speak to kind of the the impacts to residential um housing and the housing prices in general.

I appreciate the conversation around this and those and the the few council members that did meet with us and have these conversations.

Uh, unfortunately, we're in opposition to this for the sake of housing affordability uh in Tacoma and the region.

Um, you know, it really comes down to a fee stacking.

I think uh builders in this community continue to see and home builders in this community that are local to this community continue to see fees stacked on top of each other.

Um really the the biggest concern here is that uh the ordinance correctly says that this is these are one time uh fees paid by the developer, but unfortunately that does not paint the whole picture.

Uh these are one-time fees paid by the developer uh that are passed on to the resident.

And in fact, the resident pays a little bit more than what the developer paid in the end because of all because the timing of these fees get pulled at the beginning, and that collects interest.

Uh the last concern I'll leave you with is uh again the fee stacking.

Uh last about two years ago, this council uh removed a deduction against the gross earnings tax.

So when developers are building this infrastructure that's being taxed and being uh these fees imposed through development charges, uh they're gifting that to the city, and then the city is then hitting them with an additional tax on something that was gifted.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Hollenberg.

Uh, there are no other speakers signed in, so we're going to close public comment and move on to the regular agenda.

Uh, we have an appointment motion before us for consideration.

I move to confirm the appointment of Tony Esparazza, Esparza, excuse me, as neighborhood and community services director, effective March 23rd, 2026.

Second.

I'd like to call an interim city manager Kim Kim.

Thank you, Mayor.

Deputy Mayor and members of the council.

At this time, I'd invite uh Tony Esparza to the podium as I just read a few remarks here.

Um I'd like to introduce you as well as to the public.

Tony Asparza, a candidate tonight uh for the neighborhood and community services director position.

Um, as assistant director for the city of Bellevue's Parks and Community Services Department, Tony oversaw human services, adult misdemeanor probation, youth development, equity initiatives serving more than 150,000 residents.

She co-authored Bellevue's first human services strategic plan and realigned a 20 million dollar contract portfolio to advance uh racial and economic equity, uh demonstrating Tony's ability to align policy with funding and measurable outcomes for that community.

Uh Tony led uh through the pandemic over 85% of the ARPA funds uh that the city of Bellevue received to stabilize uh vulnerable populations and support and to support an inclusive economic recovery.

Uh this work required cross-departmental collaboration, strong community partnerships, and navigating politically dynamic environment skills essential to advancing Tacoma's NCS mission.

Tony's leadership is grounded in translating equity vision into daily practice.

She has built engagement frameworks that amplify resident voice, uh implemented transparent performance systems, and led the launch of a youth housing program by proactively collaborating with concerned neighborhoods throughout Bellevue, ensuring programs benefit both participants and the broader community.

Um I do believe this evening in bringing her for confirmation that she is the right director at the right time for our team.

And I look forward to what she does for our team first community uh in parallel and in service to the council's mission and strategic vision for uh not just um NCS but for the city overall.

And with that, uh Mayor Ibsen, um I would turn the time over to our candidate here for some remarks and some questions, but perhaps of course, love to hear from you.

Good evening.

Thank you, uh Mayor Ibsen, Deputy Mayor Bushnell, Council members, and city manager Kim for your trust and confidence that comes with this vote.

It is truly an honor for the opportunity to serve the residents of the city of Tacoma.

For me, public service is both professional and personal.

It's about building systems that work and ensuring that they work for everyone.

I'm proud to join the city's commitment to equity, not as an abstract um concept, but as something measurable and real that informs how we allocate resources, design programs, and show up for our community.

Neighborhood and community services, as you know, sits at the intersection of safety, belonging, and opportunity, and that's a profound responsibility, and it's one that I will carry with humility.

In I'm committed to collaborative leadership, working with each of you across departments, with the talented team in this department alongside our community partners, and in genuine partnership with residents to further strong accountable systems and compassionate governance, which strengthen one another.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to steward this work, and I commit to serving with integrity, transparency, and a deep commitment to Tacoma's neighborhoods and the residents that live there.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your interest, and uh I really appreciate you making the time to meet earlier too.

Are there any comments from the city council?

Deputy Mayor.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I just want to share my appreciation for um you know seeking out Tacoma and coming here.

Um, and also uh you have a fantastic team uh to work with as well.

I'm really excited to see um the work that you're gonna do with them uh and working with our community as well.

So it's really great um to support this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Wonderful.

And what I will also say, too, is that human services in general is one of our our core competencies and priorities, and especially just given the immense priority that Tacoma voters have placed on responsible regional handling of homelessness and the city's role with a unified regional approach, uh making sure that we have qualified people with that regional experience in at the helm in that departmental level uh to help us flesh that out is is more crucial now than ever.

So I'm I'm really thrilled to see you there.

Uh thank you so much for believing in Tacoma and for your passion for the job.

Uh can't wait to get started.

Any further comments from the council.

All right, seeing none.

Um all those in favor of appointing Mrs.

Sparta to uh neighborhood and community services director, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All the supposed to say no.

Motion is adopted.

Congratulations.

Welcome aboard.

Thank you so much.

Item number 14.

This item will also cover item number 15.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41855, a resolution appointing and reappointing individuals to the human rights commission.

I move to adopt resolution number 41855.

Second.

Move and second, I'd like to call on Chair Rumbaugh.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, at the February 12th, 2026 Community Vitality and Safety Committee meeting.

The committee conducted interviews for the Human Rights Commission and the Human Services Commission and recommended the appointment and reappointment of the following individuals to the human rights commission.

Travon Parish, Marcus Antonio Gunn, Elliot Winter, Yvonne, I mean Ivan Johnson, and Verda Washington.

To the Human Services Commission, Nicholas Yee, Sandra Allen, Kyle Sanchez, and Jeffrey Killsgard.

Are there any questions?

Any questions?

Right, seeing none, are there any uh all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41855?

Please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All supposed to say nay.

Motion is declared adopted.

Item number 15, clerk, please read.

Resolution 41856, a resolution appointing individuals to the human services commission.

I'm I move to adopt resolution number four one eight five six.

Second movement seconded.

This item was just presented.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41856.

Please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those supposed to say nay.

The resolution is declared adopted.

Are there any newly appointed human services or human rights commissioners in the council chambers?

Well, seeing none, congratulations anyhow, and uh thank you for your service to our city.

Moving on to resolutions item number sixteen.

This presentation will also cover items 17 and 23.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41857, a resolution authorizing the execution of a letter of agreement with Teamsters Local Union number 117 general unit regarding a new classification entitled Hard Hydro Park Aid.

I move to adopt resolution number 41857.

Second.

Moving seconded.

I'd like to call on Mr.

Dylan Carson.

Good evening, Mayor Ibsen and members of the City Council.

I am Dylan Carlson, Labor Relations Division Manager for the City of Tacoma.

I have two resolutions and one ordinance to present this evening.

Resolution 41857 authorizes execution of a letter of agreement as negotiated with Teamsters Local Union number 117 general unit.

The agreement was adopted by the public utility board as a resolution on February 11, 2026.

The agreement provides for the creation of a new classification to be titled Hydro Park Aid.

The classification will be represented by the Teamsters General Unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.

Hydro Park aid will be classified, designated as overtime category A with a 2025 pay range of 21 dollars and seventy cents to 23.93 cents per hour.

Rates of pay for the classification will be adjusted by the same percentage agreed to by the parties for the classification of laborer for 2026 and any additional years of the collective bargaining agreement.

All of the terms and conditions for the classification will be consistent with the current collective bargaining agreement.

Resolution 41858 authorizes execution of a letter of agreement as negotiated with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 43 Clerical Unit.

The agreement provides for the creation of a new classification to be titled Senior Retirement Specialist.

The classification will be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 43 Clerical Unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.

The senior retirement specialist will be created as classified, designated for overtime category A, with the pay range set to 10% above the classification of retirement specialists as established in the collective bargaining agreement for 2026.

All of the terms and conditions for the classification will be consistent with the current collective bargaining agreement.

Ordinance 29093 will provide for the implementation of the provisions included in the letters of agreement as negotiated with the Teamsters Local 117 General Unit and IBEW Local 43 Clerical Unit.

I'd be happy.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Dylan.

Are there any council questions or comments on this item or item 17 and 23?

See none.

All those in favor of adopting resolution number 41857, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed to say nay.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Item number 17, Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41858, a resolution authorizing the execution of a letter of agreement with IBEW Local 483 clerical unit regarding a new classification of senior retirement specialists.

I move to adopt resolution number 41858.

Second.

This item was just presented.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

See not all in favor of adopting resolution number 41858, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed to say nay, resolution is declared adopted.

Item number 18, Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41859, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds and the amount of 30,000 for the OASIS Youth Center staff guided HIV and STI self-testing for LGBTQ plus youth and Pierce County.

I move to adopt resolution number 41859.

I'd like to call on Councilmember Rumbaugh.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you to everyone on the Council for your consideration of this contingency fund request, especially my co-sponsors, Councilmember Diaz and Councilmember Walker.

This resolution allocates $30,000 to fund the OASIS Youth Center's HIV and STI self-testing for LGBTQ plus youth ages 14 and older in Pierce County, which will fund 300 tests.

This effort is about making sure young people don't have to navigate their health alone.

We know there's a real need for STI and HIV testing in this community, and access only matters if it feels safe.

The best way to reach those who need testing is to provide it in a place where they feel seen, respected, and supported.

For many LGBTQ IA2S Plus youth, OASIS Use Center is more than a building, it's a trusted community.

Providing testing there empowers young people to take charge of their health with confidence and support.

OASIS Youth Center will provide on-demand staff guided HIV and STI self-testing within its existing drop-in and support service environment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumba.

I'm very supportive of this.

Are there any other comments from the Council?

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just want to say thank you, Councilmember Rumba, for bringing this forward, and thank you to Matthew and the OACIS Youth Center for being such a great space for LGBTQ youth, and um excited that we're able to add just a little bit of support to their work.

Thank you, Councilmember Walker.

Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you.

Um I also wanted to just thank Councilmember Rumba for her diligence on working on this.

I think it's something we've been talking about in the LGBT community for years now since um PCAF dissolved and the need for particular HIV testing for all communities and how how we as a county and a city are stepping up to fill that gap.

This is one specific this is gonna fill a gap for a really specific population, which is our LGBTQ youth who have particular barriers to getting to some of the sites that have been set up for adults.

So having them have access to testing at a place where they're already at, given the barriers for youth to um get around the city on their own is really really critical.

And um I'm just so grateful that Councilmember Ramba has been able to work with OAS to get us to this place and looking forward to how we can help support programs like these in the future.

Thank you.

All right, um, seeing no further comment, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41859, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed to say nay.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to final reading of ordinances, item number 19.

This item will have a PowerPoint presentation and will also cover item number 20.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29084, an ordinance amending chapter 12.08B of the municipal code relating to use of sanitary sewer by adding a new section entitled System Development Charges and repealing section 12.08B.230 to establish wastewater system development charges effective July 1st, 2026.

I'd like to call on Mr.

Nathan Crane.

Thank you, Mayor Ibsen.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Thank you, members of council.

I'm Nathan Crane, an analyst in the Environmental Services Rates and Budget Group.

And I'll be presenting to you today on ordinances 29084 and 29085 for adoption of wastewater and stormwater system development charges or SDCs.

First readings of these ordinances took place in December 2025.

Since then, we've continued to work with other departments, particularly Tacoma Water, to provide the council with a unified framework for preparing our utility systems for continued growth and higher density development.

As the city advances initiatives such as Home and Tacoma 2 and implements the long-term goals of the One Tacoma plan and Tacoma 2035, it is critical that our wastewater and stormwater systems are positioned to expand in step with development.

Meeting these future capacity demands requires intentional coordination between departments, sound infrastructure planning, sustainable funding tools.

This evening, Council will consider ordinances that advance our wastewater and stormwater utilities system development charge funding strategy.

These charges are intended to equitably or cover the cost of new capacity needed to serve growth, support critical capital investments, and maintain fairness across our customer base.

At the same time, we recognize the council's commitment to housing affordability.

Jointly with Tacoma Water and in collaboration with other departments, we will develop an affordable housing SDC exemptions proposal for council's consideration this year, designed to balance infrastructure funding needs with the city's housing policy objectives.

So to review a system development charge is a one-time charge for establishing a new connection or upsizing an existing connection to a wastewater, stormwater, or water utility.

The amount charged is proportional to how much additional capacity that newer upsized connection is adding, and the intent is to recoup a fair share of the historic cost of the utility system to generate revenue for capacity expanding capital projects.

Charging when capacity exchange when capacity changes occur in proportion to the amount of capacity increase generates revenue in sync with the pace of growth, whether that's more moderate growth or rapid growth and densification.

And this will help us respond proactively to the changing level of need for capacity expanding projects as Tacoma grows.

Now we've gotten a lot of good questions and feedback from council and stakeholders on the combined fee stacking impacts of recent SDC and transportation impact fee proposals.

And this chart shows the combined SDC and impact cost impact fee costs for an eight-plex multifamily development in Tacoma and in neighboring jurisdictions.

Excuse me, I hit the wrong button.

There we go.

And this uses Tacoma Water's proposed 2030 SDC rate, which would be reached at the end of a five-year phase in and is also before council for your consideration later this evening.

It includes Tacoma's newly adopted transportation impact fees in orange as well that were adopted in December 2025.

And with our combined impact of these new impact fees and the proposed SDCs, Tacoma is still on the lower end compared to these neighboring jurisdictions across multifamily ADU four-plex type development that we expect to see with Home and Tacoma.

Ordinance 29084 establishes an SDC for newer upsized connections to the city's wastewater system.

Wastewater SDCs use water meter size as the basis for the fee schedule.

Multifamily dwellings pay lower SDCs per dwelling unit than single family, which is based on historical usage data.

There's no charge for capacity dedicated solely to fire protection service in line with Tacoma Water's SDC policy and that of other area jurisdictions.

There's no charge for pre-existing capacity.

If you transition from a smaller meter to a larger meter, you only pay the difference in cost between the two meter sizes, not the full cost of the larger meter.

The effective date would be July 1st, 2026, leaving a four-month window to continue communicating with stakeholders and implementing the program.

This ordinance also repeals a conflicting wastewater fee program, the connection charge in lieu of assessment program.

The connection charge in lieu of assessment program was designed to recover the cost of adjacent and abutting public sewer infrastructure on certain parcels that had not already been assessed to charge for that infrastructure under a local improvement district or for a sanitary sewer improvement.

SDCs would also be charged for new connections, but SDCs recover a fair share of the overall wastewater system cost, not just the localized infrastructure.

Recognizing that council is concerned about fee stacking impacts and that SDCs and charges in lieu of assessment may seem duplicative.

Instead of operating these programs in parallel, this ordinance adds clarity and simplicity by eliminating wastewater charges in lieu of assessment.

Additionally, all historic in lieu of program revenues are removed from the SDC cost basis to create full separation between SDCs and any historic fee and lieu revenues.

Permit applications approved prior to July 1st, 2026 would be subject to connection charges in lieu of assessment where applicable.

Permit applications approved on or after July 1st, 2026 would be subject to SDCs and will be working closely with the permitting group on this transition.

Ordinance 29085 establishes a stormwater SDC for site modifications that result in a net increase of the square footage of impervious surface on a parcel.

Site modifications that do not increase the total square footage of impervious surface on a parcel do not trigger a stormwater SDC.

The charge is 53 cents per added impervious square foot for all development types.

The effective date would be July 1st, 2026.

And the recitals of this ordinance include a commitment that the Director of Environmental Services will develop an exemptions policy to bring to council for consideration in the fourth quarter of 2026.

As discussed at study session two weeks ago, environmental services and Tacoma Water will partner with community and economic development's affordable housing program, which already leverages state grant funds to help cover affordable housing infrastructure costs and will work to integrate SDC waivers into that body of work.

Environmental services will also explore during this time other potential wastewater and stormwater SDC subsidies or exemptions allowable by law.

Adopting SDCs today and considering exemptions later in 2026 would enable us to incorporate STC revenues in our capital budgeting for the upcoming biennium while providing additional runway we need to research and coordinate SDC exemptions across departments.

The recitals of this ordinance also clarify how SDCs tie in with the existing stormwater payment in lieu of construction program.

This is uh this stormwater payment in lieu of construction program is a different type of in lieu of program than the wastewater in lieu program, which would be ending under the wastewater ordinance.

The stormwater payment in lieu of construction program gives developers the option to purchase capacity in a regional stormwater facility in lieu of or instead of constructing stormwater treatment and/or flow control on site.

And we want to continue to support the regional stormwater facilities program.

So we've taken steps to ensure no overlap between what the two programs pay for.

Previous capital costs to construct our existing regional stormwater facilities are excluded from the SDC cost basis.

So SDCs do not charge for the historic capital cost of these facilities.

So next steps, if these ordinance are adopted today, we'll move ahead with implementation in coordination with the permitting group and others.

We'll perform additional stakeholder outreach in the lead up to the effective date.

Ordinance would be effective, ordinances would be effective July 1st, 2026.

And concurrently in quarters one through three, we'll coordinate with other departments to study potential SDC exemptions and subsidies and present these for council consideration quarter four, twenty twenty-six.

And our uh stakeholder outreach process will also wrap in input from stakeholders as well.

And with that, I would open it up to any questions that council has for comments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nathan.

Are there any council comments or questions?

Councilmember Sadogi.

Uh yeah.

Just point of clarification.

You talked about exemptions, but from what I understand, there are no real exemptions.

They all have to be paid for in some way.

It is it is correct that exemptions in the context of affordable housing would be receiving subsidies through state funds to reimburse developers for the costs of those uh those connection charges.

Yeah, every exemption has to be paid for from our budget in some way, shape, or form, or has to be filled in by a state uh source that already exists, the CHIP program.

Yes, Councilmember, that's correct.

We uh we are not able to use utility funds to provide SDC exemptions or uh or waivers, those need to be funded through another funding source, such as the general fund or state grant funds and our proposed funds.

And no none of that program exists, so when we do go live July 1st or whatever whenever it was that that was the date, I forget if it's July or June, um, that wouldn't already exist.

That would be a future thing that we'd be working on here.

We we would work through that framework in the future, however, the program that is currently used to uh receive that could be used to receive SDC waivers through the state, the connecting housing to infrastructure program uh includes a provision that if a uh council or jurisdiction governing body plans to adopt uh waivers or exemptions that are that are funded through this program, that uh step of planning to do so will uh enable enable grant funds to be applied retroactively to uh programs.

So essentially, by providing for in the waivers uh, excuse me, in the um recitals of this ordinance that uh will explore these options for exemptions uh in the coming year in 2026.

We open the door to eligibility uh for projects for chip grants.

Got it.

That's a good clarification.

I didn't realize that um that that the state program allows for.

And the state program really is an affordable housing provider applies to this state fund, and if they get it, they can use it towards this.

But if they don't get it, they still have to pay.

That is correct, council member.

It's not a blanket solution that pays for all types of affordable housing.

Uh they would partner, uh a development would partner with the city to apply for these funds.

They would need to meet both the city's requirements uh for affordable housing as well as the grant program eligibility requirements.

Okay, thank you.

Um I'm going to be in no on this one and the next one for um several reasons, and it has nothing to do with how hard staff has worked.

I think you guys have gone above and beyond, because I think I probably have pestered you with a lot of questions around this.

But fundamentally, it goes down to you know as I sit here and I go around and I look at every single thing that our city tries to do to affect the quality of life of every resident and to affect the quality of services that we provide every resident.

I see just how much a lack of housing makes that so much harder.

And on the heels of, I know it's a year ago, but on the heels of doing home and Tacoma, um, needing economic development, I just think it's it would be irresponsible for us to uh set more barriers.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't be open to this sometime in the future, but at a time when we have rising interest rates, it's already basically stifling development when we need more development, we need more affordable development, and we need more commercial development.

Um I just don't see a way to say yes today.

I also think we should explore opportunities of working with our state and federal uh contingent um to help fund some of this to lower that barrier.

Um so given, you know, what I think is an imperfect solution for affordable housing, um the economic kind of um you know uh issues that we we're having around any sort of development.

Um I just cannot say yes today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hines.

Uh I have one question, then maybe a broad and then a broader set of comments.

Um new development happens, new warehouse, new commercial property, new housing unit.

They have to pay currently they have to pay something for hooking into our sewer system for adding impervious services and hooking into a water system, correct?

Yeah, correct.

That's correct, council member.

So they are paying something.

What this is saying is that we're gonna ask people to pay for not only just the hooking into the system, but the potential impacts on developing the system that supports the hookups in your house or building or property, correct?

Yeah, that's correct, council member.

And I uh the connection charges um that you're referring to would typically cover the cost of the physical infrastructure to make the connection, whereas as you say, SDCs are uh more concerned with the overall uh system costs of the wastewater system.

Okay.

Uh thank that was my one question I want to ask ahead of time before I kind of went to my remarks.

Um, similar to Council Shadalgay, um, I am not gonna be supporting the system development charges uh on the that we're voting on this evening, but again, not because of any effort from staff conversations to answer questions.

I think you've all done a phenomenal job.

I think what I've come back to again and again is this inherent tension we have, which I sit through many, many meetings where people tell me what are we doing to get more housing built in this community, what are we doing to get more affordable housing built in this community?

What are we doing because the housing is being afford built that is quote unquote affordable is not affordable enough.

What are we doing?

And one of the ways that we can try to control that is contain our costs that we're passing on to development.

Um because that is a tool that is completely within our our control.

We can't control interest rates, can't control how much it costs to get timber from Canada, we can't control how much uh lending costs are.

We can control how much we charge development for actually building in our city.

And I think that's the fundamental tension that I hear a lot about that I think has been a very interesting in the conversation, not for you all, but I think broader in the community of we want to increasingly ask for more and more and more as we see new development because development is a quote unquote it seems to be like a bad thing, while at the same moment saying we want more development because it's a good thing.

Um that is not a tension we're gonna solve tonight, but it's just something that continues to be in my mind as we think about this.

Um I don't think that the way we get more affordable housing is making it more for more expensive to build housing.

I also have concerns about the idea of growth pace for growth simply because if growth doesn't show up or growth is lower than we think, then we are st the residents are still paying for the impacts either way.

So whether we add one more unit of housing, one more business, or one more resident, we have a sewer treatment plan that needs to be upgraded, we have a uh water system that needs to be maintained, we have a stormwater system that needs to be addressed, and I get broader concerns that this actually covers up some of the broader costs that we are on the hook for just having a city in general.

And um, I really like what I heard about looking at how do we get focused on exemptions around affordable housing.

I think that's great.

I'd like to talk more about that.

But one thing Council Stalge brought up, which I think is really important, is once these are put in place, it moves from uh it it move it it limits our options.

Because once these are put in place, if these aren't in place, we're not charging developers to pay it.

Once they go in place, it now becomes a cost that we have to figure out how we're gonna cover if we want to exempt the developer or any housing provider out of it.

Um that I have some real questions about.

So that's just some broader thoughts.

Nathan, you're standing here listening to all my comments like it's I'm just directing with you, but you just happen to be here.

Um but uh thank you for all your work, thank you, staff's work.

Um I look forward to hopefully working further on this if this passes to think about what looks like to craft some exemptions for affordable housing providers.

And I also would love for you all to be part of um the efforts we're trying to lead at the state to get the state of Washington to help us out more because even not only are we raising the requirements of what needs to be put for development, the state of Washington is doing the same thing, and cities, not just ours, but cities across the state are bat grappling with this with no clear answer other than we either make it more expensive to build or we pass those costs on to our residents.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Rumbach.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I just had a question that was sort of um related to what the last thing that council member um Hein said.

So are we going to pass these costs on to the users if it doesn't happen that the developer who's building it takes care of these costs?

You're gonna are we gonna pass this on to our users?

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember.

Uh that is correct that if we do not uh fund capacity increasing projects through SDCs, then our other mechanism for raising the necessary funds to grow our systems would come through increasing uh increasing utility rates.

And so those funds would be spread over the entire uh rate paying base as opposed to generated by new projects that are creating the the need for more capacity.

And what would that look like for a regular person in a house?

Yeah, it uh it would likely look uh like a dedicated rate increase, some uh percentage uh fraction of a percentage of rate increase that is uh put before council um during the rate making process that is dedicated solely to um increasing increasing rates for specifically growth.

Uh the the other concern that we have with um doing this through a rate increase is that we're essentially looking ahead and predicting what we think the rate of growth may be and setting a rate increase based on that uh educated assumption.

Um however, um you know these things are unpredictable, and we may actually see uh a higher rate of growth or lower rate of growth than we predicted, and that creates the risk of over or undergenerating revenue through rate increases relative to growth that we actually see.

Whereas SDCs, because they're charged at the time new connections are established, increase or decrease that that revenue pool in uh kind of in sync with uh how growth occurs and how rapidly growth occurs.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Ramba.

Any further comments or questions from the council?

All right, seeing none, clerk please call the rolls.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Aye.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Heinz.

Hey.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Nay.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen.

All right.

Motion the ordinance is declared passed.

Moving on to item 20, Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29085 and ordinance amending chapter 12.08D of the municipal code relating to stormwater management by adding a new section entitled system development charges to establish stormwater system development charges effective July 1st, 2026.

This item was just presented.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Um I'll say uh a few brief words here, just uh because I think there are some very notable and um I think very reasonable points made in both sides.

The reality is that this is just my own perspective is that we seem to be at a point of transition for how we fund these basic infrastructure um improvements that growth necessitates.

Uh staff perspective isn't necessary, you can sit down.

Um thank you though.

But um for me there's there's this perspective of growth paying for growth, which uh in Tacoma, since we haven't had impact fees up until very recently, uh we have largely funded these infrastructure improvements on a project-by-project basis, largely through off-site improvements, which uh are a real sore spot for builders.

And the cost factor is is not fantasy.

It is very pricey and margins are very low and risky for building.

At the same time, uh, we're in a in a very awkward um less than convenient spot because uh staff is correct that in the absence of some kind of cost recovery, basically all of the users, so regular residential users, commercial users, are basically subsidizing development, right?

And so as we have a conversation about whether we want to move into uh move away from the growth paying for growth model into something more that's fee-based, uh, we're in an awkward spot where we're currently doing both.

We're basically having these per project charges along with fees, and uh that's it's not lost on me, certainly, that that's a very awkward spot to be in.

So um this is me daylighting the fact that I am interested in having a more robust, more systematic discussion that brings together people from the building community and and other very important stakeholders in ensuring that we can have our cake and eat it too, that we can ensure that it makes sense to still build into coma, while at the same time recognizing the fact that these are very legitimate concerns about ensuring that our infrastructure is robust enough to meet the future needs and not placing the entire burden of everything on John Q public, JNQ public.

So I am a yes vote on this and the related ordinance, but I just wanted to daylight that to me at least this is an awkward in between towards uh I think a very necessary conversation we do have about what a reimagined system looks like that gets us the growth we need in an equitable, sustainable way for everyone involved.

So, with that, seeing as there are no future uh no further council questions or comments, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Heinz.

No.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Nay.

Councilmember Scott.

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen.

Hi.

Ordinance is declared passed.

Item number 21.

This item will have a PowerPoint presentation.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29091, an ordinance amending chapter 12.10 of the municipal code relating to water regulations and rates by amending section entitled system development charge for charged adjustments and annual increases effective February 1st, 2026.

I'd like to call on Andrew Zaremba.

Thank you, uh Mayor Ibsen and members of the Tacoma City Council.

My name is Andrew Zaremba, and I'm an economist with Tacoma Water, and I'm here to speak on ordinance number uh 29091 Tacoma Water System Development Charges.

So I want to thank my colleague from Environmental Services for coming up here first and providing some of the background and some of the work we did with you all over the uh ensuing months.

So I think I'll keep my um PowerPoint presentation specific to um Tacoma Water specifics and um continue here.

That so um as was said before system development charges, they are one-time fees that are assessed on um new connections to the system that are utilized to pay for um expansion and growth related projects uh per revised code of Washington um those funds can only be used for those sorts of projects.

Um these charges for Tacoma Water were first adopted uh by the Tacoma City Council in 1997.

Since then there have been a number of updates, notably 2004, 2020, and uh we are coming in front of you today for uh an update for the next five years through 2030.

Um and in order to ensure cost sharing equity, as was noted by uh members of the council that the intent of Tacoma Water is to periodically review these charges and see if they're appropriate given the infrastructure that's been invested or the investment that have been made into infrastructure in the ensuing years, and then what our capital plan looks like in the upcoming years based on new regulations.

Um as I mentioned, they were last updated in 2020.

Um, and since then there have been a number of regulatory requirements that have been put on Tacoma Water, um, which we see it as a um necessitate significant capital investment um over and above what was prior modeled.

Um in lieu of system development charges, uh these costs as necessary would fall uh onto uh onto existing rate pairs through a number of different forms, either through direct um rate increases or through bond issuances.

Uh on this side, I just wanted to highlight a couple of specific capital needs and largely what is driving a lot of the increase in our proposed system development charges.

Um I've divided these up into two different types of capital investment.

One is what I what we can consider system-wide, so those that would benefit the entire system, um, all users, regardless of where they are in our uh service territory, and then the ones on the right, which we would more refer to as region specific, um, and those were we're would refer to uh uh infrastructure that's necessary to serve a specific development based on where they are in our service territory.

Uh as you can see on the left, I've highlighted two specific projects in a light blue.

Um, those are ones that we've identified as direct um impacts due to regulatory requirements.

Uh, these two uh make up approximately 50% of the new charges that we've added to our system development charge or the new projects that that make up the basis of the system development charge.

Um and when it relates to funding, um I understand there's some questions about how much might these how much might system development charges fund these projects.

Um I wanted to speak first on some generalities and then some specifics.

Um generally how we decide how which projects we find with system development charges are based off of our long-range financial planning and is dependent on things like fund balances, rate trajectory, bond market conditions, and project prioritizations.

Some of it may also come down to philosophy.

Projects on the left that we consider system-wide requirements, we might say it's appropriate to fund these projects through a split of system development charges and through rates or bond issuances, um, and that acknowledges that uh all customers benefit from these types of uh investments into our system.

Whereas the projects on the right, um, we might instead take a pathway where we fully fund these projects through system development charges because they serve growth in a specific area.

Um specifically when we did some projections of what based on our current fund balance in our system development charge fund, um, what the impact of these approved rates might look like over the next 10 years, and contracted system development charge revenue we have from the Cascade Water Alliance.

We estimate that up to 100 million dollars of system development charges could be used to fund these projects.

Um that's if based on our long-range financial planning, we felt that that was the most appropriate way to fund these projects.

Um there are timing considerations where sometimes assets are needed before the funds are there, so we may make decisions to uh fund it through bonds or rates partially, and then later down the line we have assets that we fully fund with system development charge.

Um here is just uh what we're proposing as a phase in schedule.

Um we have uh a variety of different customer classes that impact our impact our system in different ways.

Um residential, commercial, and irrigation, and then we have a uh a per gallon charge that we would assess to a customer that um would need a meter larger than uh two inches.

Most commonly this is for uh industrial customers and wholesale customers.

Um I won't go over this slide too much as it was um reviewed by my colleague, but this just uh highlights the um where Tacoma water and well, where Tacoma um ranks amongst other jurisdictions in these feast uh in what is considered the fee stacking conversation, um, and as highlighted with our fully phased-in charges and the uh now approved um environmental services charges Tacoma Water remains at the bottom.

Uh this is a timeline of of where we've been so far.

Um we began this conversation back in October.

We reached out to the Master Builders Association and had a conversation with them.

We've gone to the public utility board, GPFC, um had a public hearing, have gone to the permanent advisory group, have had the opportunity to speak with you all on a few occasions, uh both in public hearings and one-on-ones, and we are here tonight um at our second reading.

Um also mentioned by my colleague, um we have um uh an intent to come back to the city council um this year uh as it relates to ensuring that we also support affordable housing within the service territory, Tacoma Water and this in the city in general.

Um we will be working with um CED, uh community of economic development, planning and development services in legal to ensure that these ordinances are defined properly and legally and bring that to you by um year end.

Um also, as was mentioned, the mere fact of the council signaling their intent to review waivers uh is sufficient to allow uh developers to apply for uh rebates and and reimbursements for these charges, even if the ordinances are not in place yet.

And with that, I'll take any questions.

Thank you.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Councilmember Sidalgi, funded by council member Heinz.

Sure.

Um if you want to go to the slide that has the projects.

Oh, backwards, okay.

Okay.

I I can continue to ask my question because I kind of remember enough of it.

There's um on that slide you have 225 million dollars worth of projects.

If I recall, um I got a memo, it was really 326 million when you had in additional ones.

Um in the conversations we've had, you know, you guys explained how we went from the last time we looked at it from like roughly 20 million dollars in capital to 300 million or plus.

I believe over half of that is really due to um basically state regulations that have changed.

Is that a true statement?

That that's largely true.

Yes, maybe if I can thank you.

Um those two highlighted ones in blue.

The pipeline one pressurization is a state requirement to pressurize all of pipeline one, which is one of our is our is our transmission line from um from the Green River Filtration Facility down into town.

Um that is that is a 30-year program uh of which we currently include 10 years as per state law into the system development charge.

Um so that is a significant program that is um 100 million dollars.

Uh roughly current currently in in the in the 10-year portion of the plan.

That's correct.

I just want the rest of my counselor to know this is the state has required something of us with giving us zero dollars uh that's cost us a hundred million dollars.

Uh PFAS treatment, I didn't think we actually had treatment for PFAS that works and or do we really have?

My understanding is there are methods to filter PFAS out.

It is currently um the a capital intensive project and an operationally intensive process.

Um given this is a federal regulation, and there's still some potential changes happening to the regulation.

Um so we wouldn't move forward with the project unless it was regulatorily required, but the state also has to be.

That's correct.

Okay.

How much of the 225, 300, and whatever number you want to come to?

How much of that can be funded by SDCs?

Um based on our projection of what we might collect over the next 10 years, and this represents 10 years worth of projects, um, approximately 33 percent, one third.

So a third.

So these SDCs could maybe help us with about a third of all our capital projects.

But the implications are, right?

We're we're paying for regulations that we got no help from our state or federal uh delegations for.

Um again, these are barriers.

This is to the rest of my council, these are barriers to growth, right?

And we keep coming back to this volume and rate kind of argument that we're gonna have.

You know, my stance is you lower the barriers today because we need growth, because eventually, when that growth goes away, because it will, we're looking at 10 year periods, we're looking at 30 year periods, we have cyclical um issues here, the rest of the ratepayers will eventually pay.

This is not having your cake and needed to, it's literally the worst version of that because we're gonna say, oh, yeah, growth is gonna pay for growth except when growth stops, when everyone pays for it.

So the best thing you can do is have as much growth as you possibly can right now, because again, the developers aren't paying for it.

The end user, whether it's the business there or the people that are gonna uh move in are gonna pay for it.

And I do have a genuine issue with the fact that we have these regulations with no actual help um paying for this.

So um, you know, we've been to national organiz uh meetings, whether it's the National League of Cities, and and we see the lessons of other uh municipalities, and that is why I error on the side of uh keeping these barriers low because it is better to have more growth right now because eventually every single person who's paying will pay for it in some way shape.

And it's also up to us to lobby to get these uh uh funding sources from these other kind of governments that are mandating it.

So again, that is gonna be a reason why um I will not be voting yes on this.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hines.

I I'll make this relatively short.

Andrew, thank you for the presentation.

I I wanted to, and maybe this is better for it after the vote, as I think I know this is going, but I think one of the broader conversations is something I want to make sure I'm really clear.

Um with staff, is I recognize that environmental services has to storm our utility and uh wastewater utility has to manage, and I understand that it's water has a water system that has to manage.

The concern I've had that I'm just what think we need to talk about broadly as a council, is how do we think about the ecosystem by which we build things in our city that isn't divided up in different parts, right?

So where we have a public works department thinking about just impact fees, we have a sewer department just looking about the sewer, we have a water department just thinking about water, and how do we think holistically about how every one of these little choices stack up and get us to the place where we get less housing?

If there's anything we've learned, like the reason why we change zoning codes in the last few years, is because we've learned that when you continually add up regulations that are all designed when well intense and with good ideas, they end up getting us less of what we want to see at the end.

And so I think in a fact the city, the state of Washington is somewhere in the neighborhood of a you know hundreds of thousands of units of housing short, and the city of Tacoma is in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of how units housing short.

That uh we can't have this conversation in isolation about one policy at a time.

We have to have a broader citywide conversation about what we're doing to make it more likely that people will build things in Tacoma, because we need it.

Thank you.

Thank you about Councilmember.

Thank you.

Any further council comments?

Right, seeing none, um clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Hines?

No.

Councilmember Palmer.

Yes.

Councilmember Rumba?

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

No.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell?

Aye.

Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen.

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

Item number 22.

Clerk please read.

Ordinance 29092, an ordinance amending subtitle 6A of the municipal code relating to the tax code to update utility tax rates from 7.5% to 6% by amending various sections effective March 1st, 2026, and by amending section 6A.90.040 effective July 1st, 2026.

This item was presented on February 10th, 2026.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Palmer.

Absent.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Aye.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell?

Aye.

Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Councilmember Heinz.

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen.

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

Moving on to first reading of ordinances, item 23.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29093, an ordinance amending chapter 1.12 of the municipal code relating to the compensation plan to implement rates of pay and compensation for employees represented by the Teamsters Local Union and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 483.

This item was presented earlier in the meeting.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Seeing none, the ordinance will be set over for final reading next week.

Moving on to unfinished business.

Is there any unfinished business?

Seeing none, moving on to community forum, during which you may speak about items over which the city council has jurisdiction.

As a reminder, these forums are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council to aid in our diet in our decision making and is not meant to be a back and forth dialogue.

Your remarks should be directed to the city council and not at individual staff members or individual members of the council.

At this time, I'd like to ask attendees if you wish to speak under the community forum.

Please, uh, if you're attending virtually, press the raise hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone now, so we can see the number of people wishing to testify this evening.

If you're speaking in person, please sign up at the back of the room if you've not done so already.

Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when is your turn to speak.

Community forum, clerk, please read.

The purpose of community form is to assist the council in making policy decisions.

Items of discussion will be limited to matters over which the council has jurisdiction.

Argument shall not be made in support of or opposition to any matters on this week's agenda.

And each person may address the council only one time during this forum.

Thank you.

Community forum will be limited to a total of 60 minutes, and each speaker will have up to 90 seconds to make your remarks.

Please be mindful of the time frame.

As always, you are not required to use all of your time to make your point.

If you cannot remain on topic, you will be given two warnings.

If you remain off topic, we will have to move on and end your time.

Our first speaker is myself is Michelle Reich, followed by Sally Sesh.

Sheck, excuse me.

Michelle Reich.

What I'm gonna say goes counter to everything you are standing here for, and that the city, if you want to save the earth, should have zero growth.

And the reason why is because the earth is in its current fifth extinction.

Fifth extension was uh defined as 3.5 billion people in 1970 by concerned scientists.

Anything above that is the earth is on uh non-sustainability track, and so grow any growth above that is destroying the flora and fauna of the earth.

Uh as an example of that.

I want you to cite your current immigration policy.

Uh overpopulation is partly due to that.

There's hundreds of millions of people around the world that are trying to immigrate.

If we didn't have borders, tens of millions of people will be coming across.

So you're dealing with that right here now.

Because the overpopulation, because these countries can't support these people.

Uh most of the 90% of the people are coming across and are immigrants or economic uh refugees because their country can't support them due to climate change.

Climate change is related to human activity, and human activity is related to overpopulation.

There's a correlation there.

This is not me saying that these are concerned scientists around the world.

And so uh the Amazon.

Uh thank you.

And there's many other examples that I don't have time to decide, but uh I could give you hundreds.

Thank you, ma'am.

You're welcome to send your your comments to the city council or to email the clerk's office.

Our next speaker is Sally uh Scheik, followed by Kyle Jolly Boys.

Good evening.

My topic is ICE in Tacoma, and this is in response to Tacoma residents concerned about ICE in our city and our request for action by the city council and mayor.

And I understand that mayors and city council do not control ice entirely, but there are some actions that you can take.

And here are some suggestions.

Mayors and city council can prohibit ice or prohibit um city agencies and police from assisting in federal immigration enforcement and so-called immigration enforcement.

You can prohibit city agencies from information sharing with ICE.

You can sign orders to block ICE agents from entering or using city owned and controlled properties without a judicial warrant.

You can sue the federal government to challenge the legality of enforcement tactics.

And you can distribute know your rights materials in multiple languages to inform residents about their right to remain silent and not open doors without a judicial warrant.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Kyle Jolly Boys followed by Lowell Wise.

Kyle Jolly Boys, I live here down on Broadway.

I've been in my apartment for 18 years.

It's an old hotel.

We have one meter on it.

74 to 76 units in it.

She's taken one meter, dividing it by 74 units, and timed in by how many people are in the apartment.

I have three people in my apartment.

So I'm times more.

My utilities for the last eight 17 years was $90.

January was 223.

I cut back, and it was 227.

One meter.

She's cooking the books, Mayor.

How can electricity for an old hotel, a 700 square foot apartment cost me 227 extra.

I need someone to look into this and get back to me.

You look dumbfounded, Mayor.

I'm just saying that she's cooking the books.

The 74 units, a neighbor went from 90 to 120, and he's in a studio.

I went from 90 to 227.

And I'm on a 30-day eviction now because I didn't pay my rent.

Because I'm on Social Security and I can't afford $1,400 a month.

Thank you, Mr.

Jolly Boys.

Our next speaker is Lowell Wise, followed by Chris Carnes.

Good evening.

My name is Lowell Wise.

I live in downtown Tacoma in District 2.

I'm also a proud member of the Climate and Sustainability Commission, and I'm speaking tonight on my own behalf.

I'm here to testify about the city manager hiring process.

I don't need to remind you all that the city manager is the most powerful individual in city government.

It's also an unelected position.

These two facts make it even more important that the process of hiring this person be as rigorous, fair, and transparent as possible.

The public deserves more information about who the candidates are and exactly how this crucial decision is being made.

Well, I'm gratified to learn of the city manager recruitment event planned for this Thursday at 4 p.m.

I wish there was more information available about who the candidates are, how and why they were selected as finalists, and what their governing philosophies might be.

I also wish that the event were taking place at a time when more working people could attend.

4 p.m.

is not the most accessible time for many of us.

As a commissioner, I've seen too many essential priorities inserted into an important plan only to lose out to other things.

This is especially true of climate action and environmental investments, which my commission oversees.

Tacoma needs a highly competent and compassionate city manager who can guide us through these challenging times and prepare for a more resilient future.

I'm asking city council to please take concrete steps to increase transparency around this process so that we know just kind of what kind of leader is being chosen for us.

Thanks.

Thank you, Mr.

Wise.

Chris Carnes, followed by Rob Cradle.

Good evening, Mayor and Councilmember Snow and returning.

I'm Chris Carnes.

I serve uh um as an appointed member of the planning commission.

I don't speak for the commission, but I am here to speak for myself about consideration of a new city manager.

Historically, Tacoma City Manager has been cautious about doing new things allowed by state law, but there are uh costs that come from hesitance to innovate and make change.

One current example is how the city reacts when residents are injured in traffic collisions on city rights of way.

The city may seek to dismiss claims even when our streets don't have adequate sidewalks or crosswalks, but the city still ends up settling with victims and their families, which happened twice last year at the cost of millions of dollars.

The city could be more proactive to prevent these avoidable tragedies.

I personally hope that you ask some tough questions of these candidates about what strategies they will employ to keep Tacomans safe from traffic violence.

Whoever the city manager is should not shy away from using all of the tools in the toolbox.

New code, new partnerships with local governments, enterprise funds, or even new public utilities.

Rather than the status quo, pay as you go budgeting, deferred maintenance, and reliance on selling uh public assets to fill temporary budget holes.

I hope that this selection process is a transparent and helps to rebuild public trust.

One thing for public thought that would cost the city no money to improve that trust, in my opinion, is for the city's administration to remain committed to the rule of law and to uphold residents' legal rights to initiative under the Article II of the Charter.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony, Mr.

Carnes.

Moving on to Rob Crable, followed by Jessica Johnston.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, members of the council.

My name is Rob Crable.

I live down in District 5.

I'm uh chair of the planning commission, but I'm speaking on my own behalf tonight.

Um I'm also here to talk about the city manager uh recruitment position.

I'm uh happy that the recruitment process has slowed down to allow for some more engagement.

But like the two speakers before me, I am concerned that this process is moving fairly quickly and not nearly transparently enough.

Um, we get a lot of the public comments that you all hear later on at Planning Commission, and one of the main themes that I hear a lot from the public is a lack of trust in our city government and a lack of um seeing accountability in our city government.

And because we are still a weak form of government, which is something that I would like to see changed in the future at some point.

Um, but because we still have a city manager who is the top executive, I think it is so so crucial that there is a lot more time invested in the process for leaders across the city of the diversity of civic and cultural organizations that we have, to get to know the different candidates and to ask these tough questions.

Um I'm reminded of the adage that if you want to go fast, you can go alone, but if you want to go far, you have to go together.

And my concern with this process so far is that it's moving at a pace that is convenient for the city and not necessarily at a pace that is convenient for this the community as a whole.

So I would hope that some more time and process could be built into this recruitment and uh interviewing process.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rob.

Moving on to Jessica Johnston, followed by Rocio Goodrich.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, also City Manager Kim, thank you, and also all of City Council.

My name is Jessica Johnston.

I am here as a representative of the Tacoma City.

This is not a routine appointment.

It is one of the most consequential decisions you will make this year.

Tacoma operates under a strong city manager system.

This role controls operations, overseas departments, and executes the budget.

In a time of structural deficit and operational strain, the authority truly matters within your hands.

I have spoken with residents in businesses across the city.

This message is consistent.

We are looking for someone who will be financially disciplined and responsible, competent and stable, and is serious leadership for all of Tacoma.

People are not asking for a reset.

They are not asking for experimentation.

They are asking for basics to be done well.

They're asking for responsible budgeting.

They're asking for steady management.

Bringing in someone from the outside might sound bold, but that is not the move that we need for Tacoma citizens.

This moment requires readiness.

It requires deep knowledge of Tacoma's systems, its financial realities, its department dynamics, and we do not have the luxury right now of a learning curve.

We do not have time for someone to study us before leading us.

Thank you, Ms.

Johnson.

Thank you.

Appreciate your comments.

Our final in-person speaker is Mr.

Rocio Goodrich.

Good evening, Council.

Um, sometimes standing up for what is right seems difficult, perhaps because your platform is just a small plank under your feet.

But you must know that that plank was used to build the path to the American dream of a child of an immigrant mother and a hardworking American father, who is here speaking to the council.

I am speaking as a privileged resident of Tacoma, urging you and any pertaining entities to shut down the existing Northwest Detention Center and to enact a moratorium on restricting the expansion of future ICE detention centers.

As previously discussed tonight, the city's infrastructure is already under continuous pressure under the current housing crisis that could be combated by zoning out the sale of warehouses for scrupulous markups to be converted into detention centers.

We can also combat this by using the scope of power of the health department to gain access and enact tougher zoning restrictions against GEO.

We can also urge you and the Department of Health authority to follow up on the condition of the current detainees.

According to various pro-immigrant activists such as La Resistencia, there has been numerous 911 costs coming in from the Northwest Detention Center.

Allegations of sexual abuse and improper care due to saturated and unsanitary conditions continue to happen every day.

Thank you so much for your time.

And you're welcome to submit any further comments to the city council or the clerk's office.

Thank you.

We have one final speaker signed in virtually, and that's Ms.

April Smith.

Hello, Council.

I just wanted to take this time to ask that during council votes.

You all use your microphone so that all of the community can hear how you vote.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

With that, there are no further speakers signed in for comment at community forum.

So I'm going to close community forum and uh move on to um it appears that we have a comment from uh Councilmember Sundester just so wanted to comment on um some of the testimony we heard do it as fast as possible.

Yeah.

I want to really sincerely uh thank the two commenters that talked about um this national conversation around uh immigration.

Uh I am a foreign-born immigrant myself.

I have two council members on uh on this dais that are the children of foreign-born immigrants uh and others that are affected.

So this is really near and dear to us.

Uh I've asked staff to reach out to you and sh and and point you to our actual immigration resources page that shows a lot of the work we've done.

Um actually in listening to your your comment, ma'am Sally.

Um we have done a version of each one of those that is within our authority, and we actually did it way before um Seattle or King County, but there's still more work to be done.

Um, and specifically in response to um I for I didn't actually catch your name, I apologize.

Um hundred percent every single person on this dais uh cares deeply about the health and welfare of the individuals that are in detention.

Uh we as a city have um actually led in trying to get uh regulations.

We are we're limited as a local jurisdiction.

Uh our local health department um is allowed in to do just food.

Uh but the state uh uh department of health has won um some um uh litigation, uh, but they're still not letting him in right now on the state level.

There's a bill that would actually add real teeth with fines.

Um, and I would love for you to help support that.

There's other uh legislation on the state level that would also protect children uh in schools, uh child care, and those in hospitals that is also going through.

Those are really important pieces of legislation.

Our website that that staff could give you has a list of all of those um legislations, and lastly, uh I really appreciate you uh bringing up language access because the individuals that are affected have language as a barrier.

That page is also um uh translatable in over a hundred languages.

Please help us send that information out to community.

Every single person on this council cares deeply.

And though we are limited in our authority, we are absolutely doing everything we can in this day and age.

So thank you for bringing that concern forward.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments and for all the work that you do, and for everyone who came forward to uh to testify and for caring about our city.

So, with that, there are no planned reports uh from the city manager's office uh as it's a community forum night.

So we're going to move on to comments and committee reports of the city council.

I'd like to call on Chair Hines from the Government Performance and Finance Committee.

Uh thank you, Mary Ipson, and uh just one thank you, April, for reminding me to turn on my microphone when I vote in the future.

I will make sure I do that for people listening online.

Uh the government reforms and finance committee has convened once since the last update.

The February 3rd meeting began with the selection of the chair and vice chair, in which I was re-elected the chair, and Deputy Mayor Bushnell was reelected the vice chair.

Uh the first briefing item was a presentation on proposed amendments to come municipal code subtitle 6A related to the gross earnings you tax utility gross earnings tax and utility, which we approved this evening.

Uh the second briefing item covered the open access transition tariffs for wholesale customers such as the Bonnoffle Power Administration over um at Tacoma Public Utility Power Lines, and then finally an informational packet was provided by Baker Tilley, Moss Adams to the 2025 Entrance Audit Conference for City Utilities.

Our next GPFC meeting, which was previously scheduled for March 3rd, has been canceled.

So that means that the next meeting we will actually be meeting is March 17th at 10 a.m.

in room 243 of the Tacoma Municipal Building.

Uh the agenda is still being determined.

Mr.

Mayor, that concludes my report.

Thank you, Chair Hines.

Are there any final council comments?

Councilmember Rumbaugh.

Thank you, um, Mayor.

So um we celebrate everybody's birthday on our council, and I'm the birthday person.

And so um we just want to wish Councilmember Sidalgay a happy birthday.

He'll tell you if he wants to how old he is.

But um we just really appreciate him, and um everyone gets noticed here, so the next birthday is next week.

Thank you.

Yay.

All right.

Well, we're all congratulations and happy birthday.

All right.

Uh there are no need for any excuses uh this evening.

So is there a motion to adjourn?

I move to adjourn.

Second.

Move and second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Thank you, everyone.