MY PLAN FOR COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

Mr. Marconi stated there was an article in the Middletown Journal today and he just wanted to clarify he has no issues at all with Mr. Cristo. The letter he sent to all council members is public knowledge and he merely referenced a Cristo development. He has nothing to fight Mr. Cristo over.

City Manager Husemann stated the meeting tonight was not to discuss senior or subsidized housing. This meeting was to address the entire spectrum of housing stock in Middletown. The discussion will be about housing, revitalization, future topic and how to address these issues. You won’t hear all the answers this evening, but will hear what the City has done and continues to do to address housing issues.

Planning Director Marty Kohler distributed information contained in his PowerPoint presentation. From City Council’s Retreat, housing was a top priority issue. Identifying ways to improve housing stock and tools available for development/redevelopment were discussed. Mr. Kohler shared some statistical data collected every ten years by the Census bureau. Butler and Warren Counties tend to be higher in medium household income than the State of Ohio. Middletown is not doing the same. There has been a slow steady decline in Middletown’s median household income figures. Employment income history, the unemployment rate and employment in Middletown were discussed. Middletown lost over 3000 jobs in the last ten years. Family demographics from 1990 to 2000 showed Middletown has a greater proportion of single family dwellings and a decline in married families with children. The largest growth category was the single-person households. The Butler County difference showed their growth was in married-couple families with children. Family size is relatively low in Middletown and decreased from 1990-2000 in Middletown, Butler County and the State of Ohio.

HUD thresholds for low income definitions were explained. The 2000 census showed a total of 23,174 housing units of which 80% were constructed prior to 1970. Owner occupancy was 60%. The rate of home ownership is declining. Homes for sale by price range were compared between Hamilton, Liberty Township and Middletown. There were extreme contrasts in the housing make-up of these three entities. Middletown has more homes in the $75,000 to $99,999 price range and very few homes in the $175,000 to $300,000 ranges. Liberty Township has very few in price ranges up to $149,999 and has the most homes in the $300,000 and above ranges. Trends in subsidized housing show promotion of home ownership; less government ownership; funding caps on private ownership with rent supplements and lowering initial costs to lower rent rates with tax credits, bonds, etc.

Public Housing owned and operated by Butler Metro Housing Association are:

Privately owned Section 202/811 – Section 8 properties:

Assisted Housing

Low Income Housing Tax Credit

renovated with a tax credit)

Section 8 Vouchers

homelessness, enrolled in job placement, etc.

housing agencies)

Subsidized Housing total units are 3,269. The tax credit housing vouchers pay the difference in the market rate to make the units affordable. The five year span of 2000 to 2004, there was a very rapid increase in Section 8 units, from 767 in 2000 to 1554 in 2004.

Mr. Kohler showed the City had Geocoded all Section 8 housing and some neighborhoods had very high percentages of subsidized housing.

Middletown has 15% of Butler County’s population; 23% of the County’s residents in poverty; 38% of the County’s subsidized housing units (that percentage does not include Section 8 housing units); 56% of the County’s Section 8 voucher holders; and 40% of the County’s Housing for the mentally ill.

Section 8 conclusions indicate the number of units should be capped; increase quality standards; increase frequency of inspections; and use as a tool for neighborhood investment. Overall, about 35% of Middletown’s occupied rental housing is designated for low income.

Neighborhood Improvement programs were discussed.