TACOMA, Wash. — Parks Tacoma faces an $8 million budget shortfall that has resulted in layoffs and dozens of other jobs being impacted.

The department laid off 14 employees the week of Sept. 29. Ten people accepted voluntary separation packages, and 25 open positions were frozen and will be left unfilled. This represents about 10.6% of Parks Tacoma’s 464-employee workforce.

The cuts do not include seasonal, part-time employees. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek were not impacted as they are enterprise businesses and do not pull from the General Fund, a Parks Tacoma spokesperson said Friday.

The budget shortfall stems from lower-than-projected revenue and higher-than-expected expenses. Some of the revenue factors include lower property taxes, grants, lease payments and c

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