While there is an opportunity to acquire state funding to keep more than 300 homeless shelter beds open, the City of Tacoma is planning for a situation in which the funding does not come through in time.
The City of Tacoma has been planning to close roughly 339 emergency shelter beds by June due to an anticipated funding shortfall. Heading into the 2025 legislative session, the city requested $6 million per year from the Legislature to maintain 307 shelter beds through June 2027.
Maria Lee, spokesperson for the city, said the budget recently passed by the Legislature does not directly name Tacoma as a recipient for such funding but does note an annual allocation of $58.8 million in grant funding to be available to support homeless housing programs and services in cities and counties…