A ballot measure that could cost Tacoma $8 million to $10 million a year goes before voters Tuesday, Nov. 3. Backers say the real price tag is closer to $1 million.

Initiative Measure No. 1, called "Safe Homes for All," would create a rental licensing program, build a public database of landlords and evictions, require the city to enforce existing tenant protections and impose fines of $500 to five times the monthly rent for confirmed violations. It would also require landlords to bargain with tenant unions over lease terms and housing conditions.

City Manager Hyun Kim told the Tacoma City Council on July 28 that implementing the initiative would cost $8 million to $10 million a year. He said he would need to cut the general fund to cover it.

"The biggest costs in the general fund come from police, fire and libraries, so I'd have to make potential offsets and cuts within these departments to support this effort," Kim said at the July 28 meeting, as reported by the Tacoma News Tribune.

City spokesperson Maria Lee confirmed the estimate came from a "preliminary cross-departmental review." The cost covers a new code compliance program, staff hires, a tracking database, outreach and legal expenses. The city also anticipates an additional $2 million in potential legal costs tied to a provision requiring the city to defend the measure in court.

Lee later told the News Tribune that Kim was "speaking at a high level" and that the city may "not necessarily" cut the general fund. The city will not publish impact analyses until after Election Day, and only if voters approve the measure.

That cost dispute lands on top of a $40 million deficit in Tacoma's general fund for the 2027-2028 biennial budget.

Tacoma For All, the advocacy group behind the initiative, disputes the price tag. Executive Director Tyron Moore said the measure would cost about $1 million and would need only three or four staff members, not the 30 to 40 that $8 million to $10 million would support. The initiative's language permits the city to adjust per-unit licensing fees to cover enforcement costs.

"The costs will be disproportionately borne by corporate landlords and repeat offenders, and not borne by Tacoma taxpayers," Moore told the News Tribune in an Aug. 10 article. "That's built firmly into the initiative."

The two sides are not evenly matched on fundraising. Tacoma For All has raised more than $130,000, with donations from the Tacoma chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, unions and the law firm representing renter Melody Frazier, according to the Seattle Times. The Rental Housing Association of Washington has raised about $33,000 in opposition, largely from property managers and owners.

Opponents argue the measure would hurt housing supply. Sean Flynn, executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington, told the Seattle Times on Thursday, Sept. 3 that the protections "don't do anything to address affordability, only drive up costs, and not a single piece of new housing is built because of them."

Supporters point to weak enforcement of Tacoma's existing tenant protections, passed by voters in 2023. Those rules require six months' notice of rent hikes, limit late fees, restrict winter and school-year evictions and mandate relocation assistance after certain rent increases. Tenant advocates say the city has issued only one fine in nearly three years.

A lawsuit filed Sept. 2 by Frazier against the owner of Westside Estates in Tacoma's West End has become a rallying point. Frazier alleges illegal rent hikes, hazardous conditions including mold she believes caused health issues, and retaliation. Building owner Steven Arterberry told the News Tribune in May that the apartments are "decent, safe, and sanitary." Building representatives told the Seattle Times on Thursday, Sept. 3 that they believe the property is exempt from Tacoma's tenant protection code because of a Low Income Housing Tax Credit agreement.

The Pierce County Auditor's Office verified the petition met the required threshold of 4,989 valid signatures. Voters decide the measure Nov. 3.