The Red Lion Hotel in Renton, Washington, which once housed low-income people in need of housing, now sits empty and abandoned. Unfortunately, taxpayers are footing the bill to keep the lights on in this deserted hotel, costing about $330,000 per month, according to KIRO7 News.
The hotel was once a thriving place of business, with decent accommodations and a restaurant. When the pandemic hit and hotel business dried up, the owners sold it to King County, which the county intended to use as homeless shelter.
In November 2020, however, the hotel was burned to the ground, and the police charged a suspect with arson. The people living there had to be relocated, and the county moved them to another hotel in the area, at a cost of $28.6 million. The Red Lion Hotel remained gutted and unusable, and no plans were made to rebuild it.
Unfortunately, the county is continuing to pay $330,000 per month for the Red Lion, including for heat and electricity, despite shattered windows and boarded up sections in this unusable property. The county is reportedly negotiating to get out of the lease, but until an agreement is reached, taxpayers in King County will continue to pay rent for this property.
A reasonable person might expect that even if there are contractual obligations to continue leasing the property for a set period of time, the utilities would at least be turned off, and taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay for heat in a structure with shattered windows.
County governments are culprits of waste as much as any federal or state entity, and county officials need to remain vigilant to ensure their taxpayers are getting a good deal on their investments.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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