Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier has vetoed a supplemental budget approved by the County Council that would have allocated millions in funding towards homeless services and housing projects.
The veto is the second in a matter of weeks that has blocked the council’s efforts to establish non-congregate tiny home shelters outside of the City of Tacoma .
On Sept. 24, Dammeier wrote a letter explaining his decision to veto the council’s supplemental budget — which the council passed by a 4-3 vote along party lines on Sept. 10.
In his letter, Dammeier said the purpose of the supplemental budget was to focus on adjusting the spending of federal funding provided through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“Instead, what emerged from the Council process was an expanded yet incomplete budget — passed on a partisan vote — that combines a mix of irregular fund transfers, new administrative constraints, and ill-advised spending that fails to account for impacts on other priorities,” he said in the letter.
Dammeier’s office declined requests for comment from The News Tribune.
Pierce County Council member Ryan Mello (D-District 4) has been frustrated by Dammeier’s vetos, both of which blocked efforts he spearheaded to establish emergency non-congregate shelter.
Dammeier has opposed efforts by Democrats on the council to make it easier to establish non-congregate micro shelters outside of Tacoma. The executive previously stated he believes the county is not in need of more emergency homeless shelter capacity and instead should invest in permanent supportive housing.
“I am very disappointed the Executive is not taking seriously the urgency of our homelessness, opioid and affordable housing crisis by vetoing our summer supplemental budget, which made key investments in tackling all of these major challenges facing our county,” Mello told The News Tribune. “He is playing politics with people’s lives, and that is shameful and disrespectful to the public who expects us to be focused on solving problems, not keeping issues alive to try to win elections.”
Mello is running against Kelly Chambers, a Republican, for the office of Pierce County Executive.
Council member Marty Campbell (D-District 5) said he is often asked by constituents when the county is going to do something about those people living unhoused.
“The answer has been, ‘Well, the next budget, and the next budget,’ and today we have already talked about two of our largest and most ambitious projects for getting people off streets, into stable housing until they can get into long-term housing, [and] they are being continually pushed down this road,” Campbell said during a Committee of the Whole meeting on Oct. 2. “As if we are not seeing 10-20% increase in homelessness year-over-year, as if we are not seeing hundreds of people die on our streets.”
Pierce County has allocated millions of ARPA dollars on various homeless and housing projects, but the federal government has given local governments until the end of the year to obligate the money before it expires.
During the council’s Committee of the Whole meeting, members were briefed on ARPA-funded projects in the vetoed supplemental budget that were potentially at-risk if the funds were not obligated before the end of the year.
Included on the list of projects was Spanaway Tiny Home Village, the Clarion Medical Respite Facility and the Aviva Crossing affordable housing project . Staff from the county’s Finance Department expressed confidence that the ARPA funds would be contracted before they expire on Dec. 31.
“We are focused on getting these projects to the finish line,” Mello said during the meeting.
Dammeier wrote in his letter to the council he would submit a mid-biennium budget proposal in October and in the meantime would be authorizing the Finance Department to apply interest earnings from ARPA funds to any projects at risk of not meeting the Dec. 31 obligation deadline.
“The Council will evaluate the proposal and amend it to address our and the community’s priorities like we always have,” Mello told The News Tribune. “I fully expect the Council to continue to make significant investments in homelessness, addressing our opioid crisis, building more affordable housing and community safety – making many, if not all of the same investments we made in the summer supplemental.”
During the Committee of the Whole meeting, Campbell expressed his lack of confidence that the council and executive would be able to pass a budget before the end of the year following the Executive’s veto decision.
“Its really not in our court as to whether or not we get something passed by the end of the year,” Campbell told staff from the Executive’s Office. “If it is going to be [dead on arrival], maybe we would let each other know so we don’t waste staff time.”
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