King County, WA leaders address disastrous audit of homelessness funding
King County leaders meet amid homeless authority fraud allegations
After $13 million in funds were found to be unaccounted for by the King County Regional Homeless Authority, regional leaders met to discuss financial steps to take with the embattled agency.
SEATTLE - King County and Seattle leaders voted Friday to establish a new finance committee to provide emergency oversight of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) following a disastrous forensic audit.
The decision came during a high-stakes board meeting where local officials reviewed findings of a $13 million financial gap at the agency. The newly formed committee is tasked with making direct financial recommendations to the governing board and the CEO to prevent further fiscal instability.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, who supported the move, also called for the immediate hiring of a Chief Financial Officer—a position that has remained vacant since a round of layoffs late last year.
Audit reveals "crumbling foundation"
The meeting was centered on a forensic investigation by Clark Nuber P.S., which examined the agency’s books from 2021 through July 2025. The report detailed a "crumbling foundation" where $8 million in funds are currently unmatched and $4.26 million was overspent.
King County homeless encampment
KCRHA CEO Kelly Kinnison, who took over in 2024, told the board that the audit she requested was a necessary step toward transparency. She stressed that while the accounting was "messy," the investigation did not find evidence of fraud.
"Shortly after I joined KCRHA, it was clear that we needed an independent assessment of those systems," Kinnison said. "That’s why I requested an audit to bring transparency and clarity to where we needed to be."
Internal warnings and public outcry
Despite the CEO's defense, former employees testified that leadership was warned of these issues years ago. Xochitl Maykovich, a former KCRHA staffer, claimed the governing board failed to act on complaints regarding the agency's fiscal health.
"Governing board could have dealt with these… filed a complaint about the CEO... she wanted to spend $500k on unnecessary positions even though over budget... CEO did not pay health of organization... did not want to do audit," Maykovich said.
The audit’s revelation that the agency reached a negative cash position of nearly $45 million at one point has led several councilmembers to suggest the "failed experiment" be dissolved entirely.
King County homelessness funding
Risk of "knee-jerk" reactions
While the calls for closure are growing, Executive Zahilay warned that a sudden shutdown would trigger a humanitarian crisis for the region's most vulnerable residents.
"This is not just a light switch that can be turned on and off, right? There are contracts. There are federal funding that is at stake. There are people's jobs on the line. There are services that we can't disrupt. So this is a very complex issue," Zahilay said.
Community providers echoed this sentiment, arguing that the focus must remain on stabilizing care.
"Calls to dissolve the agency immediately are not grounded in common sense and would create tremendous instability for people experiencing homelessness," said Alison Eisinger, director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.
The agency has been given until May 8 to provide a preliminary response to the audit findings, with a full corrective action plan due later in the month.
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