Butler County would receive 1,312 of the city’s vouchers and Warren County would receive the other 350 under the agreement. It was initially reported that any vouchers not assigned to a family (there are currently more than 300) would be sent to a public housing authority with a waiting list, but Middletown Law Director Les Landen said that is not the case.
Landen said once City Council approves the deal, he would “then anticipate it would be signed by HUD, the city and MPHA, and that agreement would be in place.
“And that would likely lead to a couple of agreements with Butler County and Warren County,” he said.
The pending agreement would end an 18-month dispute between Middletown and HUD over the city’s subsidized housing program.
HUD officials had maintained Middletown was out of compliance with the agency’s regulations by not having at least 95 percent of its available vouchers filled. The city had a compliance rate of only 82 percent, according to HUD.
City officials were adamant about their desire to reduce the amount of Section 8, or low-income housing, citing the fact that Middletown had more Section 8 housing per capita than any city in Ohio and almost double what the rest of Butler County has. Section 8 accounts for more than 14 percent of all available housing in the city and nearly 50 percent of all subsidized housing, according to 2013 data from the city.
The city pays out around $10 million a year in funds from HUD to hundreds of landlords who rent properties to voucher-holders. Middletown was one of two cities in Ohio that still managed its own public housing authority.
Butler Metro Housing Authority Executive Director Phyllis Hitte and Warren Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Jacqueline Adkins are not commenting on ensuing transfer of vouchers until they receive an official notification from HUD. The spokesman for HUD’s regional office in Chicago, which covers Ohio, has not returned phone calls from the Journal-News seeking comment.
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