King County is moving to beef up the ranks of workers tasked with catching and preventing problems with county funds and contracts, including the creation of a new division of inspector general. The push comes after a run of damning audits that revealed financial mismanagement and, in some cases, potential fraud in how the county handles public money.
One of those audits landed on the Department of Community and Human Services. It found the department had failed to properly oversee the contracts of four youth programs, missing cases in which grantees altered invoices and money was handed to subcontractors who had not been approved.
A separate audit delivered an even bigger shock. Investigators found roughly 13 million dollars unaccounted for at the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, a finding that intensified public pressure for the county to tighten its grip on where taxpayer money ends up.
Council member Claudia Balducci said the county has not had a dedicated way to respond to such findings. On the rare occasions problems surfaced, she said, King County has had to hire outside lawyers and consultants to investigate, and an inspector general would formalize that function so the work can be done in-house.
Balducci framed the goal as accountability rather than sweeping problems under the rug. She said constituents want to see people held responsible when money is misused, and that the county also wants to invest up front through better training and contract management so that fraud is prevented in the first place.
The plan is designed to give the office real teeth. The inspector general is expected to be up and running by next year and would come with a 1-800 hotline that residents could use to report suspected fraud, waste and abuse. The proposal has not yet been voted on, though the council has already approved some funding for additional resources.
For county leaders, the stakes are tied to public trust. Balducci noted that voters in King County are generous in approving programs to help people in need, and that the county has a responsibility to make sure that money actually reaches those it is meant to serve rather than being lost or misspent.