Tacoma residents who navigate encampments on Hilltop sidewalks or wait for shelter beds downtown will get a formal look at a countywide plan to overhaul how Pierce County addresses homelessness.
The briefing lands at the Tacoma City Council's Community Vitality and Safety Committee on July 9 at 4:30 p.m.
The stakes for Tacoma are outsized. The city holds about a quarter of Pierce County's population yet spends roughly $19 million a year on homelessness services, according to Seattle Times reporting.
The Pierce County Unified Regional Approach aims to replace that patchwork with a single countywide entry point into the shelter system, so a person experiencing homelessness in Tacoma, Fife, or Lakewood has one clear path to services regardless of location.
Pierce County Council Chair Jani Hitchen and Policy Analyst Mary Connolly will deliver the update under agenda item 26-0547.
Hitchen has led the regional effort since the Pierce County Council approved $1 million to launch it and hired consulting firm Uncommon Bridges to engage elected officials, nonprofits, and people experiencing homelessness.
"We have all these different pathways, and it duplicates services. It wastes people's time. People give up and then do really desperate things," Hitchen told the Seattle Times.
Homelessness in Pierce County rose 40% between 2020 and 2024, climbing from 1,897 people to 2,661 in the annual Point-in-Time count.
A 2021 county report estimated that closing the homelessness gap would cost $117 million more per year than local governments were already spending. That estimate is now four years old.
Pierce County leaders have said their model will differ from King County's Regional Homelessness Authority, which faced late payments to nonprofits, leadership turnover, and a $48 million deficit. Hitchen told the Seattle Times the county plans to maintain tighter oversight of any new organization.
Thursday's session is a briefing only. No vote is scheduled. The committee's next meeting, Thursday, July 23, will shift to rental housing code enforcement and the Landlord Fairness Code.
Residents can comment three ways:
- In person: Sign in at the front of the conference room at the Tacoma Municipal Building.
- Virtually: Join via Zoom and press the Raise Hand button (or *9 by phone).
- In writing: Email [email protected] at least 24 hours before the 4:30 p.m. meeting.
For accessibility accommodations, call the City Clerk's Office at 253-591-5505 at least 24 hours in advance. TTY or speech-to-speech users can dial 711 for Washington Relay Services.
