Tumwater city employees can now direct payroll deductions to thousands of charities through a single account after the City Council voted Tuesday, Aug. 18, to join Washington's Combined Fund Drive.

The move eliminates the need for the city's finance department to maintain separate vendor accounts for each charity employees donate to. Finance Director Troy Niemeyer told the Budget and Finance Committee on July 24 that the change would cut reconciliation work significantly.

"If we have a dozen charities that we're going to allow staff to donate to, that's 12 different vendor accounts … and we have to reconcile those accounts every single payroll," Niemeyer said at the July 24 meeting. "This is one account, one check, that we write to the Combined Fund Drive."

The council approved two items on its consent agenda: a data-sharing agreement with the Secretary of State's Office, which administers the program, and Resolution R2026-008 updating the city's charitable partnerships policy.

The Combined Fund Drive, established in 1984, is the state's workplace giving program for active and retired public employees. It has more than 4,500 member charities, though it currently disburses funds to more than 1,700, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Employees can make one-time donations, set up monthly contributions or give for a set period through an online CFD account.

More than 14,000 state and local government employees pledge more than $4 million annually through the program.

Resolution R2026-008 replaces the city's 2022 charitable partnerships policy, R2022-015. The new resolution removes specific mentions of individual nonprofits and broadens the language to cover any organization registered with the Combined Fund Drive. It also allows employees to use limited city resources to promote CFD-participating organizations and conduct donation drives.

Mayor Leatta Dahlhoff noted the updated resolution addresses recurring council questions about which charities are eligible and requests for a current list of supported organizations, The JOLT reported.

The program costs the city nothing.

Neither the data-sharing agreement nor the resolution carries a fiscal cost to Tumwater, according to the Budget and Finance Committee packet. The agreement renews automatically each year unless either party gives 30 days' written notice.

The CFD's main annual campaign runs October through December, though employees can contribute year-round. Tumwater employees will join more than 250 state agencies and higher education institutions already participating in the program.