Not having access to the actual report but what is only printed below, can anyone tell us what is missing from this report?  Let me give you a hint.....the cost to the city of Middletown and it's residents for having a Section 8 program with an excessive number of vouchers far exceeds the $1.6 million that is mentioned in the report.

A few other points:

MIDDLETOWN — Three months of research and 100 work hours later, Middletown City Council will review a new report outlining policy changes that may help the city better control its Section 8 voucher program.

City Council will hold a special meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, June 29, in council chambers, One Donham Plaza. The focus of the meeting will be the new City of Middletown Section 8 Analysis completed by Doug Adkins, community revitalization director.

Several recommendations are being made to council, including reducing the Section 8 program by up to 445 vouchers, create a points system to favor working families in the program, and focus efforts on problem properties and their landlords.

“I am trying to give them everything they need to make an intelligent decision on the fate of the program,” he said. “Now it is their decision as to what policies they want to enact.”

How the city came to accrue 1,662 Section 8 vouchers — or 56 percent of Butler County’s voucher holders — was because it was trying to decrease vacancy rates in older homes, according to the report. But a decade after increasing vouchers, Middletown has 2,000 vacant properties and more than 68 percent of the city’s housing stock is older than 40 years.

It’s also a costly program for the city. As one of only two cities in Ohio that administers its own housing program, the report indicates the city is actually losing more than $1.6 million annually through taxes, and increased police, fire and other service costs as a result of Section 8. Meanwhile, Adkins said the almost 600 landlords in the program “are making millions.”

Implementing new policies will not be a problem-free endeavor. Cutting vouchers will force residents to other areas of the county, which may cause resistance from other communities. It will also add to the amount of vacant properties burdening the city as landlords leave, according to the report.

The hope is the suggested changes will help the city find out how to get its Section 8 program “to a sustainable level,” Adkins said.

“We are losing a lot through conditional costs,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.