4 communities file census challenges

At least four Illinois communities have filed challenges with the U.S. Census Bureau saying their 2010 population counts are too low.

The once-a-decade tally is used to determine how nearly $450 billion, or roughly $1,500 per person, in federal aid is distributed to states. Local officials facing tighter budgets say they’re more sensitive to drop-offs in federal money.

The Illinois communities — among 18 nationwide so far — are Clinton, DeKalb, Edwardsville and South Jacksonville. Cities have two years to contest their counts under the Census Bureau’s appeals process, which began this month.

South Jacksonville Mayor Gordon Jumper said the issue in his central Illinois village is clear. The census shows the community had 3,331 people in 2010, which is down 144 people from 3,475 in 2000.

He said during the count, a major apartment complex was being remodeled in the community about 40 miles west of Springfield and many of the 1,000 people who lived there were temporarily displaced. Jumper believes census takers didn’t accurately count all the individuals who consider the complex a permanent address.

He estimated the population drop will cost South Jacksonville about $50,000 in programs and services through the next decade. The community has a $700,000 annual governmental budget.

“We have all suffered under the fact that there have been general economic declines in downstate Illinois,” Jumper said. “This is just another concern.”

Larger communities face different issues.

In the southern Illinois city of Edwardsville, officials question if census workers accurately counted the population at Madison County jail and several dorms on the campus of Southern Illinois University.

The census shows Edwardsville had 24,293 residents in 2010, up from 21,491 in 2000. But Scott Hanson, a city manager, said that a special census in 2007 showed the community had more than 25,000 people, a crucial population mark determining if a community has home rule.

“It’s a critical issue for us,” Hanson said, adding that home rule gives the city more power to make its own ordinances.

In 2000, roughly 1,200 jurisdictions nationwide, or 3 percent, contested the census count. Based on feedback so far, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has predicted a big jump in that number as far as the 2010 count is concerned.

The challenges won’t affect congressional apportionment and redistricting; revisions to the count don’t affect the redrawing of political boundaries. But they can affect how federal money is handed out.