Special Census Starting

This week we are starting a special census run by the United States Bureau of the Census. It is the second census we have done in my 5 years as Mayor. Let me talk about the last one since we don't know the results of this one, however this one will be almost identical to the last one although the numbers will have changed. First some facts about the special census and some information on the process.

• The reason so many municipalities do a special census is because MFT (Motor Fuel Tax) funds from the state of Illinois are based on population and the most recent census numbers are used.
• On the average we get between $100 and $120 per person per year from the state in MFT funds. Our numbers are based on the most recent census figures (2003 special census) of 10,100.
• The 2003 special census took us from 5,400 to 10,100, so the next fiscal year we got an additional $120 x 4,700 people or an additional $564,000 to the village starting in fiscal year 2004.
• The best part about this is we receive $564,000 more every single fiscal year until the 2010 census, which is an additional $3.38 million.
• Some of the facts we learned from this census is that the typical single family home in Round Lake has 3.24 people in it, and attached homes have 2.73 people in them, which is quite close to the 2000 census numbers as well.
• The village pays for the entire process, in 2003 it cost us $120,000 to hire, train and actually do the count which was administered by a nice lady from the census. So the board had to weigh the potential for making sure that a special census made financial sense.
• In the 2003 case we knew that we would have to have an additional 1,000 people in the village from the 2000 census figures to cost justifies the up front costs.
• The village has about 1,300 to 1,500 more housing units occupied since the 2003 special census. If you use the people per home numbers above, you can get a rough approximation of a current population of Round Lake of around 15,000. The second way of estimating is how many water bills we mail out.
  
• The difficulty with these estimating techniques is the census in 2003 took about a month and a half and we have no real easy way of determining which homes were built and occupied before and after that time period.

My best guess is that we will be at about 15,000 people, which if correct will bring us, an additional $575,000 per year. This means that the village’s use of the special census has taken our MFT revenue from $650,000 to $1,800,000 in 6 years. By the way the picture is a 1930 census taker meeting a familly of 5 who appear to live in a trailer.