(The Center Square) – While the King County Regional Homelessness Authority will avoid total dissolution, Seattle and King County have detailed plans to strip the agency of most day-to-day operations.
Documents released by King County and the City of Seattle show the two governments plan to pull back nearly $160 million in service contracts.
The decision follows a late-April forensic audit that uncovered $13 million in mismanaged public funds and a $45 million deficit.
The audit found the authority had few financial controls and was vulnerable to fraud.
The authority has seen five CEOs in its six years of existence and has faced constant criticism of its management of programs for the homeless.
To manage the reclaimed contracts, the two local governments are expanding their own departments. Seattle’s Human Services Department will take over 117 contracts worth $112.8 million, adding 23 new staff members at a yearly cost of $3.9 million.
“I think what we see ourselves doing is complementing them, taking local responsibility for the contracting and the services that we need,” said Mark Ellerbrook, deputy director of operations for Seattle, in a briefing on Aug. 4.
Meanwhile, King County’s Department of Community and Human Services will hire 10 new workers at $2 million annually to oversee 100 contracts valued at $46.3 million.
The contracts being taken back are for funding shelter programs, emergency day centers for the homeless and housing assistance programs.
Both governments plan to hire for these new roles in September, according to the documents.
As funding shifts back to local departments, the regional authority expects to lay off 20 to 25 employees, cutting about one-third of its 73-person workforce.
Moving forward, the agency will shift its main focus toward securing federal and state grants.
A financial consultant with Turning Point Strategic Advisors will help determine how big the agency should be in the future, Chris Klaeysen, Seattle human services department division director, said in the briefing.
The consultant was brought on to help the agency with its financial controls.
New rules from the Trump administration threaten roughly $65 million in typical annual funding for local housing programs, and Klaeysen said the authority is best suited to use its expertise to help continue the federal funding stream.
In addition to federal grant applications, the authority will continue to maintain regional homeless-tracking data and coordinate severe-weather responses outside Seattle, officials said.
Seattle will handle its own severe weather responses internally.
Some Seattle City Council and King County Metropolitan Council members had called for the agency’s complete elimination.
But Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay decided on July 1 to restructure the agency into a smaller size.
To prevent service disruptions during the transition, local officials said all provider contracts will automatically renew through 2027, with new applications on hold until the 2028 funding cycle.