(The Center Square) – The mayor of Federal Way is calling for an immediate suspension of all spending activities with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, until a forensic accounting is complete to learn where every dollar has gone.
Mayor Jim Ferrell says the “accounting” is different than the recent forensic audit, which last month uncovered $13 million missing and unaccounted for, while at the same time revealing KCRHA is nearly $45 million dollars in debt.
“This is on a scale of incompetence that is nearly unheard of,” said Ferrell in a Friday interview with The Center Square.
Forensic accounting involves the utilization of accounting principles and investigative methodologies to identify financial irregularities, typically within the framework of legal proceedings associated with financial fraud or misconduct.
“I’ve got a three-point approach that I think is going to be very important,” he said.
“Number one, I think what we’re going to be calling for is the immediate suspension of all activities with the regional authority. And then, secondly, secure the computers and the records of the association, and then, thirdly, conduct a forensic accounting.”
Ferrell said it’s their responsibility to figure out where the money went.
“And then, if it appears that there’s any sort of fraud, that needs to be referred to law enforcement.”
Ferrell said he never supported the formation of KCRHA, believing it to be the wrong approach to the homelessness crisis fueled by drug addiction.
“The foundation on which this was built has crumbled,” he said. “And I wouldn’t support, as a taxpayer and as an elected official, any more public money going to this organization until this is fixed.
“And to create this separate entity, I think has created a circumstance in which public money has essentially gone missing,” he added.
As reported by The Center Square, the King County Council last week ordered a 90-day review and evaluation of the embattled agency’s future.
“We want to kind of take a measured approach and make sure that we’re getting all of the information we need to decide whether or not KCRHA should continue….the findings of the audit were incredibly serious and alarming,” said KC Councilmember Steffanie Fain during an interview with The Center Square last week.
The city of Seattle, responsible for about 60% of KCRHA funding, with the rest coming from King County, the state and federal funding, is also moving to require more transparency and accountability from the agency, while at the same time expressing concerns about simply dissolving it and having local jurisdictions tackle the crisis on their own.
“We need the regional approach, but then we also have to have the oversight piece done,” said Seattle City Councilman Bob Kettle in an interview with The Center Square.
“We have to ensure that the operations and the financial pieces are being done right,” he said.
Ferrell says it makes no sense to wait another day before cutting off further funding to KCRHA.
“We need to figure out where it went, before another dollar goes into this,” Ferrell said. “They have so thoroughly failed in this mission that we as a region shouldn’t tolerate this. And as an elected official, I’m not going to tolerate it.”
Ferrell, a former King County prosecutor, said he read through the entire audit thoroughly.
“I wanted to read it carefully and I’m concerned enough to where I think the first thing that needs to happen is they need to suspend the operations and get their arms around what happened to that money,” he said.
KCRHA was required to offer a response to the audit findings by last Friday, May 8.
King County confirmed via email to The Center Square, they had received a response letter.
“The Executive’s Office and DCHS (Department of Community and Human Services) are closely reviewing the letter to ensure the corrective actions meet our expectations,” the response said.
“We continue to engage with the King County Council, City of Seattle, KCRHA Governing Board, partner cities, and service providers to gather all the facts and work together on a planned and deliberate path forward without disrupting critical services for people living unsheltered.”
Since its inception at the end of 2019, KCRHA has been allocated about $534 million to address homelessness issues.
In 2024, KCRHA reported 16,868 individuals living in homelessness, a 26% increase from 2022. Numbers for 2026 are expected within the week.
In response to the audit, KCRHA CEO Kelly Kinnison said “There are serious issues we must address, and we are acting with urgency to do so.”
“KCRHA’s early financial systems had significant gaps and still needs improvement,” said Kinnison. “The [evaluation] did not find evidence of fraud or misuse of funds, but it does make clear that we have work to do.”
Ferrell said only a full forensic accounting would ensure there was no fraud.
“And taxpayers deserve to know.”
