Seattle leaders call attention to ‘egregious’ regional homelessness audit

SEATTLE— Seattle leaders are calling for main modifications to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) following a forensic analysis that discovered important monetary and operational failures throughout the company.

The assessment, commissioned by the City of Seattle and King County in August 2025, was performed by a Bellevue-based accounting agency. It examined the company’s operations from its inception via mid-2025, following current considerations in regards to the company’s management turnover, delayed funds, state auditor findings, unverified accounting practices, and money movement challenges.

The findings included a $44.7 million unfavorable money place, which compounded from December 2023 via July 31, 2025. The analysis additionally recognized an administrative working deficit of roughly $4.26 million, which included round $1.26 million in curiosity fees that weren’t believed to be recovered.

According to the Mayor’s workplace the analysis additionally discovered the company was unable to account for about $13 million in public funds.

Budget data for 2022, 2023, and 2024 for KCRHA reveals that Seattle and King County equipped over $260 million {dollars} in funding towards the company’s efforts to curb homelessness.

It’s that vested curiosity, which was as excessive as $113 million {dollars} for the town of Seattle in 2024, that sparked outrage from some elected officers on Wednesday after reviewing the report.

Seattle Councilmember Maritza Rivera mentioned she was “shocked and outraged” by the findings and is asking for the company to be dismantled.

It reveals an egregious mismanagement of funds and an unacceptable lack of economic accountability,” Rivera said in a statement. “KCRHA has a historical past of dysfunction and inefficiency, and it’s time to acknowledge that it has failed in its mission.

Rivera urged Mayor Katie Wilson to current a plan to dismantle the company and work with the Seattle City Council on how Seattle will transfer ahead in addressing homelessness. She additionally reiterated her call for a separate audit of the town’s human providers contracts.

King County Councilman Rod Dembowski echoed Rivera in a public assertion, writing:

I used to be a skeptic of building the Regional Homelessness Authority from the start and efficiently fought to amend the authorizing laws to be sure that elected officers would stay in management and would oversee their budgets, and that it could possibly be shut down if it failed. It’s now time for elected officers to deliver this failed experiment to an finish.

Mayor Wilson mentioned the findings raised critical considerations and signaled that modifications could possibly be coming.

Addressing homelessness is my highest precedence, and I’ve critical considerations about KCRHA’s administration of metropolis funds,” Wilson said in a statement. “We want to take swift motion to defend public {dollars}. All choices are on the desk.

Councilmember Bob Kettle, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee, additionally criticized the company’s management and broader oversight.

The outcomes of the current King County Regional Homelessness Authority audit are damning,” Kettle said. “It reveals an epic, and constant, failure of management on the prime of the company—particularly at its begin. It additionally reveals the failure of management of the county and metropolis. The audit reveals troubling systemic points that may not be ignored if we’re to handle the homelessness and public security disaster in Seattle successfully.

Kettle mentioned the findings spotlight systemic points that have to be addressed to successfully reply to homelessness in Seattle. He has known as for a renewed give attention to monetary oversight and operational transparency, whereas sustaining a regional method to the disaster.

“We have a regional homelessness problem on the streets of Seattle,” Kettle mentioned. “We need a unified, countywide approach that operates with a defined purpose, compassion, and accountability.”

Seattle City Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes-Rinck and Dionne Foster, issued a joint assertion, emphasizing the significance of the group’s work. The two have held two of Seattle’s 4 seats on the KCRHA Governing Board since January 2026.

“Every misstep revealed in this audit represents another missed opportunity to prevent further trauma in our streets and neighborhoods across the region. At the same time, the homelessness emergency continues to demand strong regional coordination to ensure an effective response across Seattle and King County.” they wrote in a part of an extended assertion.

King County Executive Girmay Zahilay mentioned the forensic audit of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority raises critical considerations in regards to the company’s monetary administration and accountability. He mentioned the county and Seattle have issued a letter outlining required corrective actions and can improve oversight because the company works to handle the findings.

The County Executive and Mayor Wilson each signed off on a letter to the CFO of the KCRHA, demanding a written response to the funders (HSD and DCHS) that features how KCRHA will handle a number of “high-risk” findings within the analysis.

The letter goes on to additionally request that by May 23, 2026, KCRHA should present a written corrective motion plan addressing a number of further findings, together with implementation timelines.

The City and County additionally advisable 4 actions to the governing board of KCRHA

• Establish a monetary oversight committee that meets biweekly and stories to the Governing Board month-to-month.
• Implement a right away hiring freeze inside KCRHA with a documented exception course of.
• Implement a right away freeze on discretionary till spending the freeze is launched by the Board.
• Pause any new agreements that might improve prices or legal responsibility to the KCRHA.

Zahilay added he’s centered on bettering transparency, stabilizing the company and guaranteeing providers proceed, whereas working with companions within the coming weeks to decide subsequent steps and strengthen monetary controls.