Title
A MOTION requesting the executive provide an assessment report that makes recommendations on roles and responsibilities of the county and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in responding to the regional homelessness crisis, and a motion accepting the assessment report.
Body
WHEREAS, on November 2, 2015, King County executive Dow Constantine and Seattle mayor Ed Murray proclaimed homelessness to be in a state of emergency in King County and the city of Seattle, and
WHEREAS, the county executive's 2015 proclamation stated that approximately ten thousand individuals were experiencing homelessness in King County, including more than three thousand seven hundred unsheltered individuals, and
WHEREAS, the number of individuals in King County experiencing homelessness has increased since 2015 to more than eleven thousand seven hundred individuals in January 2020, including more than five thousand five hundred unsheltered individuals, according to the 2020 Point-in-Time Count for Seattle and King County, and
WHEREAS, on December 18, 2019, King County executive Dow Constantine and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan entered into an interlocal agreement approved by the metropolitan King County council, the regional policy committee and the Seattle city council creating a new King County Regional Homelessness Authority to oversee a coordinated and unified response to homelessness, and
WHEREAS, in the interlocal agreement, the county and city expressed their intent to provide annual funding to the authority equivalent to the amount of each jurisdiction's 2019 budgeted spending on homelessness, and
WHEREAS, since execution of the interlocal agreement, the King County council adopted Ordinance 19179, imposing a one-tenth of one percent sales tax, known as the Health Through Housing sales tax, which is expected to generate approximately fifty million dollars in annual revenue for construction of new affordable housing units and construction and operation of new behavioral health facilities, and
WHEREAS, the King County executive has announced the purchases, supported by the Health Through Housing sales tax, of six hotels with three located in Seattle, and one each located in Renton, Auburn and Redmond to house individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, and
WHEREAS, Challenge Seattle, an alliance of chief executive officers from twenty one of the region's largest employers, has issued a report, entitled Chronic Homelessness: A Crossroad, that cites successes in reducing chronic homelessness in the cities of San Diego and Bakersfield in California through individualized, on-demand supportive services and coordination with the criminal justice, behavioral health and healthcare systems;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The executive is requested to transmit to the council an assessment report that provides a vision for and makes recommendations on the roles and responsibilities of the county and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in responding to the regional homelessness crisis. The assessment report should provide the vision for and recommendations on the roles and responsibilities in the near term, which is the next year or two years, intermediate term, which is three to five years in the future, and long term, which is more than five years in the future.
B. The assessment report should identify investments and programs administered by the county, such as Health Through Housing investments and funding for the Just Care program, that support individuals experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness and describe how the investments and programs will align with those investments and programs administered by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. The assessment report should describe how the county and the Regional Homelessness Authority will coordinate on capital investments in facilities and operations and maintenance of the facilities.
C. The assessment report should identify which, if any, recommendations of Challenge Seattle's Chronic Homelessness: A Crossroad report should be implemented, and describe the roles and responsibilities of the county and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in implementing the recommendations.
D. The executive should consult with the city of Seattle, the regional homelessness authority and the Sound Cities Association in developing the assessment report.
E. The executive should electronically file the assessment report requested by this motion no later than June 30, 2022, with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, the chief policy officer and the lead staff for the committee of the whole, or its
successor. The assessment report should be accompanied by a proposed motion that should accept the assessment report.