Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay say they are taking action to oversee the King County Regional Homelessness Authority after deeming the agency’s recent “Corrective Action Plan” insufficient.
Calls to dissolve the authority continue.
The officials have announced a joint effort to immediately intervene. Starting this month, the city and county will embed an independent financial analyst and services team into KCRHA.
“My top priority is ensuring that the most vulnerable members of our community receive the shelter, housing and services they deserve,” Wilson said this week, adding that the embedded team will help shore up KCRHA’s financial and internal controls.
KCRHA officials developed the plan (PDF) after an audit identified deficiencies in the agency’s financial management, internal controls, and governance oversight. In the plan, KCRHA acknowledged that the complexity of the effort exceeds its current internal capacity.
An independent assessment of the plan conducted by accounting firm Clark Nuber P.S. confirmed that while the agency showed progress toward addressing financial risks, the proposal is incomplete and insufficient in many areas. Zahilay’s office said that the assessment found inadequate corrective steps and a lack of clear timelines and deliverables for how the agency intends to fix its reporting systems.
While KCRHA says it can account for and cover a portion of $4.26 Million of “administrative overspend” identified in the audit, officials there say they disagree with findings that identified another $8 million in poorly tracked spending.
The embedded financial oversight may be a band-aid as officials sort out the long-term plan. The Seattle City Council has given Wilson an August deadline for deciding whether the city should restructure its support of KCRHA, continue as is, or terminate the Interlocal Agreement and dissolve the authority entirely.
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