Tumwater offers 32-hour work week to close budget gap

Tumwater city employees can trade their cost-of-living raises for a shorter work week starting Jan. 1, 2027.

An estimated 25 to 30 non-union employees have signed up for the voluntary 32-hour schedule, city spokesperson Jason Wettstein told The Olympian.

The Oct. 22 opt-in deadline has passed, but a firmer count is pending as applications move from supervisors to the Human Resources Department.

The trade-off: participating employees forgo cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) raises for two to three years. In return, they work eight fewer hours each week.

The program is open to any of the city's 133 non-represented, non-union employees. Tumwater has 264 employees total, not counting seasonal and temporary staff.

Filling a $5.4 million hole

The shorter schedule is part of a broader effort to close a projected $5.4 million gap in Tumwater's biennial budget for 2027 and 2028, Wettstein said. City leaders want to close that gap without cutting staff.

"City administration and the mayor are developing a way forward alongside the City Council to ensure we have the budget needed to operate while preserving services for the city," Wettstein said.

Staff also pointed to cost-cutting measures, new revenues, efficiencies and what Wettstein called "strategic use of reserves" as tools to avoid reductions in staff.

The city's finance department estimated savings of about $5,867 per participating employee per year, based on an average salary. With 25 participants, that works out to roughly $117,340 in annual savings.

How it started

The idea first came up at an all-staff meeting with Mayor Leatta Dahlhoff and city administration on Jan. 27. After months of research across departments, a second all-staff meeting focused on the proposal took place Aug. 27.

Tumwater studied two communities that adopted similar programs: San Juan County and Golden, Colorado. Wettstein said the city is not copying either approach wholesale but drew on their experiences.

San Juan County moved about 160 employees to a 32-hour week in 2023 instead of granting large raises its budget could not support. The Seattle Times reported in January 2026 that the county made the schedule permanent after a two-year trial that saved an estimated $2 million. Job applications there rose more than 200%, and employee departures dropped 28%, according to a December 2025 county report.

There is a key difference. San Juan County kept pay the same while cutting hours. Tumwater employees give up COLA raises in exchange for the reduced schedule.

How scheduling works

Employees request a preferred schedule. If a supervisor cannot accommodate it while meeting service needs, the supervisor proposes an alternative the employee can accept or decline.