KC Permits SB 5290 Pre-Audit: 50% Fee Increase, 16 New Staff, No Performance Targets for Faster Reviews
What this document is and isn’t
This is not a completed audit. It’s a pre-audit advisory letter that conforms to similar professional standards but is not an audit under Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. The full audit is in the 2025 work program. Treat the findings here as preliminary observations, not adjudicated facts.
The statutory pressure
Washington Senate Bill 5290 (passed 2023) requires local governments to meet faster permit review timelines effective January 1, 2025, with possible state-imposed penalties for noncompliance.
What Permits proposed
| Action | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fee increase | Approximately 50 percent |
| Staff increase | 16 new review staff |
| Software | New permit cycle time tracking |
What the Auditor flagged
| Gap | Finding |
|---|---|
| Strategy | ”Some plans and preliminary measures” but no overall strategy with feedback/adjustment loop |
| Staff accountability | 16 new staff planned but no staff-specific performance targets or interim benchmarks |
| Fee transparency | ~50% fee increase without metrics demonstrating to the public it works |
| Corrective action | No process for what happens if performance targets are missed |
| Plan-Do-Check-Adjustment | Individual actions taken but no systematic monitoring framework |
Recommendations (2)
- Develop clear performance metrics and targets for meeting quicker timelines, including staff-specific measures with interim benchmarks and timelines for expected reductions in wait times.
- Develop a plan to monitor and report on metrics to enable adjustments where necessary, including regular monitoring of progress, mechanisms to improve processes, and accountability/transparency reporting to decision-makers.
What’s missing
This is a thin artifact. The Auditor explicitly noted that the following were NOT in scope and should be in the full audit:
- Specific permit volume numbers or backlog counts
- Processing time statistics
- Equity, language access, or racial disparity findings
- Breakdown by permit type (residential, commercial, ADU)
- Formal DLS / Local Services response
The DLS Director name in the letter (“Director Richardson” per the subagent extract) does not match the public King County DLS Director of record (John Taylor at time of audit). Flag for source verification before re-publishing. This may be a subagent extraction error.
Reform watch
- Did King County Permits hit the SB 5290 deadline?
- Did the 50% fee increase produce measurable faster reviews?
- Has the full audit been published yet (expected 2025-2026)?
- Are state penalties under SB 5290 active or threatened?
Pairs with
- KC-2026-012 (IG feasibility, broader fraud risk management)
- KC-2026-014 (Jail behavioral health — different department, same “no metrics” pattern)