King County Faces Scrutiny Over $1B Budget Discrepancy
Budget advocates in King County have identified what they claim is a $1 billion discrepancy in the county's budget. The discovery has led to calls for greater transparency and a clearer explanation of the county's financial planning to address the significant gap.
The King County Auditor's Office recently corrected a significant error in a report on the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), which initially overstated the increase in the department's grant funding by $900 million. The audit originally claimed that grant funding had ballooned from $22 million in 2019-2020 to over $1.5 billion in 2023-2024, a 6,700% increase. The mistake was identified by a former director of the department, Amnon Shoenfeld, who questioned the seemingly impossible growth. After reviewing the data, the Auditor's Office acknowledged that the initial dataset was incomplete because it excluded grants that had expired. The corrected figures show the grant funding increased from $922 million in 2019-2020 to $1.8 billion in 2023-2024, a 95% increase. While the scale of the increase was misstated, the audit's primary findings of weak oversight and potential fraud within the DCHS grant program remain. The audit flagged instances of grantees possibly altering supporting documents, deviating from budgets without approval, and being paid without submitting detailed expense reports. In response, the King County Council has moved to require stricter fiscal oversight, including more regular risk assessments and in-person site visits for organizations receiving grants. Separate from the audit issue, King County is facing a projected $150 million budget deficit for the 2026-2027 biennium. County officials attribute this shortfall to a state law that limits property tax revenue increases to 1% annually, which has not kept pace with inflation and population growth. If revenue had kept up since 2001, the county's General Fund would have seen an additional $400 million in 2024 alone. This projected deficit could lead to significant cuts in public services. The King County Prosecuting Attorney, Leesa Manion, warned that a proposed $15.5 million reduction to her office could equate to the loss of 90 deputy prosecuting attorneys. Other potential cuts include $30.2 million from the Sheriff's office and millions from public health, courts, and human services. County officials are looking to the state legislature for changes to revenue laws to avoid these cuts.
