Tipsheet

Audit Shows Seattle Followed the California Model of Dealing With Homelessness

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  April 23, 2026 2:30 PM

California Governor Gavin Newsom is infamous for wasting billions on homelessness, only to see the state's homeless population increase in the 20 years since he first vowed to eradicate the problem. Where did all that money go? We have no idea.

And now it seems Seattle is going down the same road, as a new audit shows $13 million is missing from the city's homeless program. That revelation has leaders, including socialist Mayor Katie Wilson, considering "next steps."

Here's more:

Seattle leaders are calling for major changes to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) following a forensic evaluation that found significant financial and operational failures within the agency.

The review, commissioned by the City of Seattle and King County in August 2025, was conducted by a Bellevue-based accounting firm. It examined the agency’s operations from its inception through mid-2025, following existing concerns about the agency's leadership turnover, delayed payments, state auditor findings, unverified accounting practices, and cash flow challenges.

The findings included a $44.7 million negative cash position, which compounded from December 2023 through July 31, 2025. The evaluation also identified an administrative operating deficit of approximately $4.26 million, which included around $1.26 million in interest charges that were not believed to be recovered.

According to the Mayor's office the evaluation also found the agency was unable to account for about $13 million in public funds.

Simply incredible. Electing a woman who worked as a barista while mommy and daddy paid her bills will fix this, surely.

No one is shocked by this. Not even the Democrats who run Seattle.

That's $13 million that we know about.

Seriously. Where'd that money go?

Minnesota is also disappointed in Seattle.

Homelessness will never be solved unless political leaders have the spine to address the root causes: addiction and mental illness. Until we figure out how to get people off the streets and treated for addiction and mental illness, homelessness will persist. But Democrats do not have any interest in that; the homeless industrial complex is clearly lucrative.

That's exactly what the solution will be. Officials will say they don't tax the rich enough and will hike taxes more to pay for their failures to combat fraud, waste, and incompetence.