New KCRHA agreement faces final approval from King County Council next week
(The Center Square) – A slightly-amended interlocal agreement between the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, Seattle and King County faces one final vote from the county council.
The proposed five-year agreement would create a single governing board within the King County Regional Homelessness Authority that is responsible for providing fiscal oversight, setting strategic policy direction, monitoring performance, and ensuring the agency is making progress to fulfill its mission.
Approval from the Seattle City Council, King County Council, and the Sound Cities Association is required. The Seattle City Council approved the new agreement last month.
The King County Regional Policy Committee, which includes members of the Sound Cities Association, gave a do-pass recommendation to the agreement on Monday.
During the King County Regional Policy Committee meeting, Redmond Mayor and Sound Cities Association Member Angela Birney said she was looking forward to a strengthened governing board within KRCHA, adding that the new interlocal agreement creates a strong oversight system.
The committee’s approval sets the KCRHA interlocal agreement up with one final approval from King County, but it is expected to pass. The Center Square previously reported on King County councilmembers signaling their approval of the proposed changes to the KCRHA governmental structure.
The county council will vote on an agreement that has only been slightly amended since the initial proposal was first introduced in August.
Amendments mainly corrected typos in the agreement, utilized consistent formatting and made clarifying changes.
One amendment removed a provision that the new KCRHA Governing Board would be required to accept all public and private funding contracts.
The new interlocal agreement was an answer to a number of calls for change to KCRHA’s government structure. KCRHA currently has three separate boards that have oversight authority: the governing committee, the implementation board, and the Seattle King County Continuum of Care Board, which is in charge of applying for federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for homelessness assistance.
The singular governing board will conduct all of the work that the three boards did since the agency first started in 2019.
The interlocal agreement will be voted on at the King County Council’s Oct. 8 meeting.
