Loose Public Money
When tax dollars flow like water.
My taxes paid to Olympia are going up. Yours are too, regardless of your income! Instead of complaining about this, I will do what I’ve always done — pay my taxes. And I’m not moving away either. My life is invested in Washington with family, community, history and connection to natural beauty.
These bonds are too strong to break me away.
So, please indulge me as I instead mention some government spending; you know, the stuff our taxes pay for? Our ruling party spends money like it’s water from a tap. Here are a few examples of waste and fraud with public expenditures.
The $14B Bridge to Nowhere
Let’s start with the Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) on I-5 crossing the Columbia at Vancouver.
Most people don’t realize the IBR is not just a bridge, it’s $14.4B for a five-mile corridor / freeway expansion.
I believe this mega-project is never going to happen because there is simply no money, even in free-flowing Washington, for the big sticker price. Undaunted, Gov. Ferguson says the titanic new freeway will now have to be built in “phases”.
He’s also insisting on light rail for any bridge “phase”. Our governor spoke in Vancouver last month, committing Clark County to —at least— $2B in debt for adding rail over the bridge.
Between the IBR, and its predecessor project the Columbia River Crossing, state leaders have managed to blow $400M — with little more than some slides and various plans to show for it.
Lax Oversight and "Damning" Audits
The King County Auditor’s Office recently released what council members called a "damning" audit of the Department of Community and Human Services.
Between 2022 and 2025, while grant funding for youth programs grew to over $1.8B, basic financial monitoring essentially vanished.
The audit uncovered altered invoices, unapproved payments to subcontractors and thousands of dollars in stipends handed out via untracked prepaid debit cards. Funds from the Best Starts for Kids levy and the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services levy—voter-approved dollars intended for our most vulnerable—were lost track of.
Former King County councilor Kathy Lambert calls these audit finds, “ just the tip of the iceberg .”
How much money was lost through the cracks?
Seattle City Council member Maritza Rivera is calling for an audit . I can hardly wait.
The Homeownership Hustle
Even programs with noble goals, like the Covenant Homeownership Program , are being mired in controversy. Olympia promotes this program as a way to redress historical housing discrimination through zero-interest loans. The program is funded by a $100.00 document filing fee on every real estate transaction. For the 2025–2027 fiscal biennium, the state budget allocated $200M specifically to the program.
Whistleblowers have pointed to the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle , a group administering the program, alleging that program funds were funneled to family members of staff while legitimate applicants were ghosted or told funds had run out.
When taxpayer money becomes a tool for benefitting those with direct ties to the government contractors in charge, the system hasn't just failed — it’s been hijacked.
"You've won an international lottery!"
And who could forget the Employment Security Department (ESD) unemployment fraud of 2020 ? Answer: Almost everybody!!!
It’s too bad this is old news, but the numbers add up. While Washingtonians were locked down during COVID, international scammers locked in between $550 million and $650 million because our state’s ESD let itself get duped. We’ve recovered some of the stolen loot, but hundreds of millions are gone forever.
A Call for a New Way
Are the examples above really just the tip of the iceberg?
Looking at how our public dollars are being handled in Seattle, King County and Olympia, I don’t see fiscal discipline. Instead, I see a top-down system that has become disconnected from the people it’s supposed to serve. We are watching hundreds of millions of dollars vanish into a black hole of administrative bloat and —most frustratingly— outright fraud.
Accountability for this is ultimately about voters in our state. Too many allow POTUS to live rent-free in their heads, that they can’t see the local situation. Go ahead and vote against Trump’s party, but take a moment to look at how our state’s ruling Democrats are performing.
We live in a rich state. There seems to be a lot of public money to throw around, with little accountability. If we want to preserve our prosperity, we need to stop treating public money as if it were tap water.
Krist Novoselić is Cascade Party Chair. He serves on the board of directors in an at-large position.
Image: Darrell Westmoreland
MORE SUMMIT