Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Welcome! The City is committed to establishing and maintaining an accessible community. We want all of our community members to enjoy the benefits of our programs, services, and activities. We recognize that access is not only a civil right, but our social responsibility to uphold and promote diversity and inclusion.

We are excited to share our progress with you. Here are a few ways the City is promoting equal access:

• The City’s ADA Transition Plan was revised, and approved by City Council in 2008. And update is available 2/12 Update
• 9 cross-functional workgroups and 3 sub-workgroups have been created to address each area of the Transition Plan. Each group is in various stages of identification, prioritization, and removal of ADA barriers. Work Group Information
• In 2007, the City of Tacoma completed an ADA assessment of all 74 City owned facilities; each facility has been prioritized for barrier removal. To this end, the City has allocated $3 million dollars. ADA retrofits are underway. 2010 Building Updates
• We are promoting accessible routes through careful design and construction of curb ramps and sidewalks. (Please see gov.me for details)
• The Commission on Disabilities has designated a sub-committee to address the misuse of disability parking. The City hired 3 new parking enforcement officers dedicated solely to disability parking enforcement; in their first 18 months staff issued 4,274 disability parking citations.  http://cms.cityoftacoma.org/hrhs/COD/COD2012GoalsandAccomplishments.doc

Ways to Get Involved:

1. Attend weekly City Council meetings and raise your concerns during Citizen’s Forum.
2. The Commission on Disabilities meets once a month. Bring your ideas and concerns. To sign up for the Public Forum, contact the City’s ADA Coordinator.
3. Volunteer to participate on City sponsored disability related committees. Please contact Gail Himes (ghimes@cityoftacoma.org) at (253) 591-5785.
4. The following link takes you to a free self-paced web course that explores the legal requirements and the spirit of the ADA and is a project of ADA & IT Assistance Centers.http://www.adabasics.org

File a Complaint/Grievance   
If you wish to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provisions of services, activities, programs, or benefits by the City of Tacoma, please see the following instructions. The following link may be used by anyone (other than City of Tacoma employees). Grievance procedure

Click here for more ADA Resources

Neighborhood & Community Services Department
747 Market Street, Room 836, Tacoma, WA 98402
253-591-5151 (voice) | hrhs@cityoftacoma.org | 253-591-5050 (fax) | 253-591-5153 (TTY)
People with hearing or speech impairments may contact us through Washington Relay Services 1-800-833-6388 (TTY or ASCII); 1-800-833-6386 (VCO); or 1-877-833-6341 (STS)