And they weren’t ready to conclude that the review is related to the Middletown Public Housing Authority’s proposal to cut its 1,662 Section 8 housing choice vouchers by 1,008 over the next four to five years.

“It’s hard to say,” Mayor Larry Mulligan said of the reasons for the review. “They certainly didn’t refer to it (the proposed voucher cuts). I wouldn’t want to jump to any conclusions of what’s driving it.”

City officials received a 6-page letter from HUD on Thursday informing them of the three-day inspection, which will take place July 16-18. The review will focus on Middletown’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program to ensure it is not discriminating against participants or potential participants.

“The review will cover the city’s administration of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and will consist of document review and interviews,” wrote Carolyn Murphy, director of HUD’s Columbus Fair Housing Center.

The letter outlined 20 pieces of information, data and materials that reviewers will need from the city by June 27. The review will determine if the city is complying with the nondiscrimination requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and implementing regulations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, according to Murphy.

City Manager Judy Gilleland declined to comment on the letter, saying, “We are reviewing it and will have comments in the next several days.”

Mulligan said the situation seems to be “relatively straight forward in terms of an examination or an audit.”

“It didn’t necessarily list if there were any issues or violations, so I’d chalk it up to routine,” he said.

Murphy could not be reached for comment Friday.

HUD spokeswoman Donna White told The Middletown Journal this week they are “still working on” a response to the city’s plan to cut vouchers.

The MPHA, which consists of the seven-member City Council, voted 6-1 on Oct. 16, to support the plan to reduce vouchers. When HUD requested the city reconsider and fill 95 percent of its vouchers, city officials told the federal agency they would not back away from their plan unless HUD could show the city was violating any statutes or regulations.

The public housing agency is eliminating the vouchers because city officials say Middletown is over-saturated with subsidized housing that’s taxing city services, generating crime and negatively impacting the city’s image. The city also has the highest rate of total subsidized housing in the state at 9.7 percent. The city does not have control over other types of subsidized housing.

According summary of the October 2012 plan: “After reviewing the city as a whole, and housing more specifically, the report analyzes the MPHA Section 8 program as it fits into our various housing policies, overall city goals, and strategic plans. The report ultimately recommends that in order to best achieve all city goals and to provide the most core city services to all city residents, the city of Middletown should not permit its subsidized housing stock to exceed 10 percent of total available housing.”

The report concludes the city can only support 654 Section 8 vouchers within the public housing agency’s program and any further saturation would “cross a tipping point where the additional subsidized housing creates more problems than benefits.”

Mulligan doesn’t believe there will be any type of findings that will result from the review.

“I think we run a good program and it comes down to a balance we’re trying to strike and manage our program that works well for the participants as well as the city,” he said.

Requested data
The U.S. Department of Urban Development is asking the city provide several pieces of information, data or materials in preparation of its Civil Rights compliance review of Middletown’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program from July 16 to July 18. Here are some highlights of HUD’s request:

• Provide copies of the official minutes from each and every Middletown Public Housing Agency meetings since Jan. 1, 2010;
• Provide a list of landlords approved for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program since Jan. 1, 2010, including landlord contact and approved property addresses;
• Provide the name, race and ethnicity of all Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders;
• Indicate the location of all Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders by race, address and census tract;
• Provide a demographic map indicating the distribution of all Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders on Jan. 1, 2009, Jan. 1, 2010, Jan. 1, 2011 and Jan. 1, 2012;
• The actions the MPHA has taken to overcome identified impediments during calendar years 2010, 2011, 2012, and to the present’ and
• Explain how MPHA issue Non-Elderly Disabled vouchers.