Seattle City Council addresses KCRHA's $45M deficit amid ongoing debates over the future of homeless services in the region.
The Seattle City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution for the next steps with the troubled King County Regional Homeless Authority , which is at a $45 million loss and can’t account for $13 million of those losses.
The resolution gives the Seattle Mayor’s Office until Aug. 1 to recommend whether to restructure, dissolve, or continue with the hard-pressed homelessness agency. ” on KIRO Newsradio, both wondered what option Mayor Katie Wilson would recommend that would be better than shutting the agency down entirely.
“It’s an embarrassment,” Spike responded. “It’s horrible waste, fraud, and abuse, in a nutshell. You look at waste, fraud, and abuse, and I’ve got a picture of the KCRHA. There are some good actors in this; I’m sure not all of them are crooks.
But that’s the thing, though: Do you just dump it and kill the entire thing and start over? They’ve already had the audit; they found the problems. ”Jake noted that the agency’s problems have grown despite “dumping money into” the program. Jake also asserted that any instances of intentional fraud should be prosecuted criminally against those liable.
“They’re aware of the problems, but they still don’t know where the money went,” Jake said. “The problems are the people. If it’s fraudulent, then those people need to go to jail. They’re $45 million in the hole.
$13 million of it they can’t account for, which includes unverified accounts, accounting of cash advances, cash flow challenges, and overspending on administrative resources.
“Pre-homeless numbers in King County, they all kind of hovered right around the same number until the Regional Homeless Authority went into effect. Now they’ve increased dramatically,” Jake continued.
“In 2017, 11,643 to be exact. In 2022, the number jumps up to 13,368, and in 2024, it’s 16,868. The number since they started the KCRHA has increased by 50%. And look at their budget, it’s jumped 45% between 2022 and 2024.
It went from $171 million to $249 million. They’re dumping money into this thing, which is now unaccounted for.
” 'Ignorance is not a defense': Jake says SPD needs to step up and arrest people involved in street takeovers'The community needs the loving arms of WA': How to support Longview after deadly plant implosion Spike noted that killing the whole program may not be the best idea because of all the time and money spent getting it to where it is now, but Jake found that, since it’s currently wasting money, shutting it down may likely save a couple of dollars.
“Here’s the thing: You’ve spent so much time and effort and resources getting this thing into place and up and, not really running,” Spike said. “But are there any elements worth saving? If you start from scratch, it seems to me you’d have to go through a lot of the processes of learning and trial and error again and again.
” “Ironically, if you do start from scratch, you’re not just throwing money away, and you’re at least saving some money,” Jake responded.
“No. 2, homelessness may get better on its own, because it’s certainly not getting better now. Imagine any other reaction except to shut this thing down. They are $45 million in the red, and it could be completely fraudulent.
‘The payoff is going to outmatch the price tag’: Gee says Seattle’s $32M World Cup investment will pay off Seattle's $32 million investment in the World Cup as a host is set to yield significant returns for the city and its economy. Harger: HUD pulls funding from Housing First. King County spent 20 years and billions on it. It got worse King County adopted a 10-year plan to end homelessness in 2005.
We are in year 20. Homelessness has roughly doubled. Explore a positive outlook on the World Cup and FIFA, moving past negativity and celebrating the spirit of soccer in Seattle. Harger: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on the defensive over homelessness, dodges on KCRHA and Spencer Pratt at Civic Cocktail Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson walked onto the Civic Cocktail stage Wednesday night and got a sustained grilling from Fox 13 Seattle anchor Hana Kim.
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