TACOMA, Wash. — There is concern in Tacoma that emergency responses from the fire department could suffer in light of Tuesday’s election.

“Honestly, it’s one of the biggest concerns right now,” Josie Arredondo told KOMO News on her way to Stadium Thriftway for some shopping.

Not all ballots have been counted, but voters so far are rejecting Proposition 1that could have helped provide much needed resources and upgrades to the Tacoma Fire Department (TFD).

The situation is bad enough right now that the local council held a work session Friday morning to discuss options for keeping the fire service free.

“We’re hoping our taxes don’t go up because we’re getting killed. We’re hoping for some other kind of solution,” said Andy Reiff, who lives and works in Tacoma.

City Administrator Elizabeth Paul told council members and Mayor Victoria Woodards that they passed a budget without expecting money from that tax. However, several things remained from that budget:

• Police overtime, estimated at $3-5 million
• Fleet replacement, estimated at $1.2 million
• Temporary shelter, estimated at $6 million over 12 months

The tax would have added $30 million a year;

• $10 million for existing expenses
• $20 million in new spending

In that budget, Interim Fire Chief Sionna Stallings-Alailima said they were asked to cut $4 million from their budget, so now, the only thing left to cut is staffing.

Short-staffed during paid time off, the department filled those shifts with its rover program, but she said they chose to eliminate those 16 rovers instead of cutting permanent staff.

To fill that void, she told the board she is working on some strategic staffing solutions to cover all shifts. She said they will start putting these strategies into play and will know by the middle of this budget cycle if they are working or not.

“If we are not effective in closing the gap in our general fund staffing gap, you will see me back here and we will be talking about permanent reductions in service at that time,” Chief Stallings-Alailima said.

Paul added that the city had not used rover positions before this year and managed this coverage instead, with overtime.

“I’ve been here before and it’s been managed through OT, and the boss will still manage it by tracking OT, she’ll have a few different approaches to try to keep the overtime within the OT budget,” Paul explained.

RELATED: Tacoma voters approve property tax increase to fund EMS

Beyond the cost of overtime, a real concern is the reduction in service. Here Woodards wanted to clarify.

“I want to be clear to the listening public that we are not talking about a decrease in service,” she told the chief directly.

“We have a structural deficit of personnel in the general fund. That’s why, with the 16 rovers, we’re already $3.54 million over budget this year. So we’re going to work to increase that, we’re thinking about how not to reduce service levels,” Chief Stallings-Alailima said.

She reiterated that their moves will be deliberate and calculated to control overtime and staffing as much as possible.

“And if the moment we see a decrease in service, it’s going to put the lives of our residents at risk, you’re going to be the first to come back to us saying we can’t do this,” Mayor Woodards said. Fire spokeswoman Chelsea Shepherd told KOMO News this is the first toll requested by the fire in 17 years.

This latest charge paid for three new engines, which were ordered in 2023, but due to production backlogs, these engines are not expected to arrive until early 2025.

“I’m for Tacoma to see if Tacoma gives them everything they need because they’re there when we need them the most,” Loe Pena said.

As a trainer and coach, Pen told KOMO News that he works with and is friends with a number of Tacoma firefighters.

“From what they’re telling me about their situation in their stations and how old the stations are, it wouldn’t be a nice place,” Pena said.

This work session included no action, but the board may take action at its Nov. 19 meeting.