Initiative Measure No. 1, titled "Safe Homes for All," is a citizen initiative on Tacoma's November 3, 2026 ballot. It was placed on the ballot by signature petition and sent to voters by the City Council in July 2026.It would change five main things:Rental licensing. Every landlord in Tacoma would need a rental license and would pay a per-unit fee. This does not exist in Tacoma today.Tenant unions and bargaining. Once a tenants union shows support from more than half the occupied units in a building, the landlord must bargain with it in good faith and attend at least one union meeting per quarter.A new City enforcement bureaucracy. Any tenant, tenant union, or tenant advocate could file a complaint with the City. The City would have to create an administrative department to receive these complaints, investigate them, adjudicate them, and assess penalties for violations.  Tenants could also file a lawsuit in Superior Court.Penalties. Each violation carries a penalty of at least $500 and up to five times the unit's monthly rent, paid to the tenant.A public database. The City would build and maintain a searchable public database of landlords, units owned in or outside the City, evictions, and rent increases.

Nobody knows yet, and that is part of the concern. The measure does not name a dollar amount. Instead, it expressly states that the fee will “fund this program through a per-unit license fee”. The fee's cost will depend on how much it costs the City to administer the program.AHC estimates that covering the cost of Measure 1 will require an average annual fee of approximately $190 per rental unit from the City’s 45,000 rental units.

The City of Tacoma estimates that this measure will cost $8 - $10 million a year. City Manager Hyun Kim presented that estimate to the City Council on July 28. The City has described the estimate as based on a preliminary cross-departmental review and including costs associated with a new code compliance and enforcement program, staffing, a tracking database, outreach and education, and legal expenses.AHC submitted a public disclosure request seeking more information about the City's estimate. The records provided to AHC included a spreadsheet and email chain that confirm the budgeted amounts. Those records identify approximately $1.6 million in start-up costs, $6 million in ongoing costs in the third year, and nearly $11 million in total costs in year three.Furthermore, a city spokesperson later confirmed the estimate and identified roughly $2 million more in variable legal costs tied to the measure's requirement that the City defend it in court and reimburse attorney fees.The prospect of these costs comes when Tacoma is facing a $40 million budget deficit. Balancing a city’s budget is a complex annual challenge.  Measure 1 sidesteps that deliberative process and imposes a high new cost without deliberation.

To cover the cost of Measure 1, the policy requires an average annual fee of about $190 per unit from each of the City’s 45,000 rental units.Measure 1 directs the City to fund implementation, administration, and enforcement through an annual per-unit rental license fee. The measure does not establish the amount of that fee. Instead, it directs the City to set and periodically adjust the fee so that it does not exceed the City's reasonable costs of implementing, administering, and enforcing Tacoma's tenant safety and protection laws. Large landlords and repeat offenders would be charged higher fees. The timing creates a separate funding question. The City will incur implementation costs immediately, while the policy delays collection of the fee  – large landlords do not have to get a license and pay a fee for 18 months; all other landlords do not have to get a license for 3 years. In the meantime, Tacoma will have to bear the costs that licensing fees do not recoup.During the City Council meeting on July 28th, City Manager Hyun Kim reported that implementing Measure 1 would cost between $8 and $10 million each year. He explained that this funding would be sourced from the General Fund. Because the largest General Fund expenses are police, fire, and library services, the city would need to make budget offsets and cuts in those departments.Supporters estimate costs at about $1 million a year. They arrive at their number by multiplying Tacoma's roughly 45,000 rental units by the $15–$35 fees in other cities – Lakewood, Olympia, and Bellingham. That math incorrectly assumes that Measure 1 looks like those other city programs. It won’t. Those other cities largely run inspection and registration programs. Measure 1 is much broader. Administration of Measure 1 will require the City to create, with rulemaking, a new bureaucracy for a licensing system, a tenant union framework, a program to educate landlords and tenants, a database of landlords showing their names and number of units owned inside and outside the city, evictions, and rent increases, and to receive tenant complaints, investigate them, issue findings, and adjudicate disputes, including appeals.