News Release

For Immediate Release
Oct. 15, 2026

FROM THE OFFICE OF: Councilmember Maritza Rivera

CONTACT: Wendy Sykes, Chief of Staff to Councilmember Rivera
206-491-8125 or wendy.sykes@seattle.gov

Seattle Councilmember Rivera, County Councilmember Dembowski speak out after learning of nearly $17 million in KCRHA debt

Latest incident in series of fiscal mismanagement and performance concerns

SEATTLE – Today, Seattle Councilmember Maritza Rivera (District 4) and King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski (District 1)  released the following statements in response to breaking news that the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) owes almost $17 million to the King County Investment Pool. The fund is a short-term investment tool that provides cash reserves to King County agencies, such as KCRHA.

Councilmember Rivera:

“It is shocking to learn that because of persistent financial mismanagement by KCRHA, the City and the County will now have to repay nearly $17 million in debt on its behalf. Since its inception, KCRHA has been overspending its budget, not reconciling its accounts, and accumulating debt.

“This illustrates why I had concerns and called for KCRHA’s dissolution back in April and drafted a resolution toward that end. We have already taken back our homelessness contracts; it’s time to entirely dissolve the agency.   

“The misconduct at KCRHA, and the earlier damning audits of the County’s human services contracts compel me to — again — call for better oversight and accountability of the City’s contracts. Because, as these problems show, when we don’t perform this critical oversight — we pay for it. Both financially and with our credibility.”

Councilmember Dembowski:

“Today’s shocking revelation that the Regional Homelessness Authority overspent $14 million on administration and incurred an additional $2.7 million in interest — more than double the previous estimate of $8 million for unaccounted funds — further confirms that this agency is broken beyond repair and must be shut down. This new information comes as a response to a letter I wrote on September 4th as Chair of the King County Executive Finance Committee, demanding that the authority address its persistent overdrawn status, which was $56 million at that time.

“Today’s revelations contravene representations made by Authority leadership to the County Council that the missing money was most likely due to unbilled services delivered. Instead, it shows that for years they have overspent on staffing and overhead, taking critical funds away from shelter and services with deficit spending that will now require a bailout. The magnitude of the mismanagement and dereliction of duty in terms of oversight of the Agency is truly outrageous.”

Background

Today’s revelation is the latest in a series of concerning issues regarding management of the regional agency’s finances. In April, a forensic audit commissioned by the City of Seattle and King County and conducted by Clark Nuber P.S. found KCRHA has a negative cash position of $44.7 million as of July 2025 and $8 million that couldn’t be accounted for. It was later found that the $8 million was overlooked due to an accounting error. Both Councilmembers Rivera and Dembowski have introduced companion resolutions to completely dissolve KCRHA. Those resolutions are on hold as the City and County continue to explore potential next steps and how to address the region’s need to address homelessness.

About the City Council
The Seattle City Council is the elected legislative branch of the city’s government. It’s comprised of nine councilmembers serving four-year terms and representing more than 800,000 constituents — seven selected by districts and two through citywide positions. For the latest news and information, please visit seattle.gov/council.

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