The Poulsbo City Council approved at its Nov. 6 meeting to designate $17,000 from the local affordable housing tax to help Kitsap Homes of Compassion open a recovery residence for women and children in Kingston.

But Mayor Becky Erickson and some members of the council are unhappy county leaders didn’t pay up.

The city partners with KHOC to provide housing navigation and mental health services at the Recovery Resource Center in Poulsbo, council documents state. In the year it’s been open, at least five members have found housing in one of the KHOC homes in Kitsap County.

The house has three bedrooms and can accommodate four to six women, depending on the number of children. City funds will also be used to enhance the property, such as appliances, home improvements and furnishings, and to cover some costs for residents who cannot afford to live there, per documents. Members of the RRC will be given priority placement.

“Even though it’s not inside our jurisdiction, I think it fits right in with the course that the council…has been charting for this kind of work,” Councilmember Rick Eckert said. “There could be an argument made that we’re outside our boundaries but I don’t think we are. It’s within our philosophy.”

The funding is a one-time, time-sensitive ask that will enable KHOC to acquire the home, which will be used for a minimum of three years since the county is not able to provide funds in an expedited way.

“It annoys me that the Kitsap…can’t come up with $17,000,” Erickson said at the council meeting Oct. 16. “I think it’s the right thing to do because people need help. We could use this as leverage as we move forward with the county.”

The city has since sent a letter to the county commission regarding being denied funding the last two years from the mental health and chemical dependency tax to support the RRC. The letter states that commissioners approved over $10 million for behavioral health services but didn’t award Poulsbo’s request for under $200,000.

Additionally, the letter says while the city’s applications are high in merit, members of the county Citizen Advisory Committee that rank applications think it is duplicating its services.

“This is a profound misunderstanding of what we do by people who have never visited our center,” the letter says. “(It) was created in response to community needs to fill gaps in our social service system.”