Lombard challenges census data, gains 230 residents

When Lombard’s 2010 census results listed a number of residents living on land actually occupied by a golf course, the village’s community development staff knew something was wrong.

The village filed an official challenge with the U.S. Census Bureau, and the bureau admitted it undercounted Lombard’s population by 230 residents, Community Development Director Bill Heniff said.

The successful challenge is expected to bring about $230,000 in additional revenue to the village during the next 10 years.

“There are a lot of fund allocations that are provided to municipalities associated with population,” Heniff said. “Identifying the population that actually is and has been in the village and making sure those numbers are proper and correct really is imperative.”

After the challenge, Lombard’s population is 43,395, up by 1,073 residents since the 2000 census.

The updated number will be used in fund distribution calculations. But people browsing census data online will see Lombard’s population listed as the pre-challenge figure of 43,165 because the Census Bureau will not be updating its already-published information.

Community development staff members noticed the discrepancy when reviewing census data earlier this year and filed the challenge in July.

“We identified an area in which there was a misallocation of people. It was near the Cove Landing development on Finley Road,” Heniff said. “We noted through the analysis they put a number of residents in the census tract immediately north of there, which is a golf course.”

The golf course is in an unincorporated area, so when the 230 residents were listed as living there, they were not counted in Lombard’s population. When it was determined they actually live in Cove Landing condos, they were added to Lombard’s population and removed from unincorporated DuPage County.

Aside from future funding implications, having an accurate population count will be important as Lombard remaps its six village board districts.

“Within the next year, we will have to set new village trustee district boundaries based on the 2010 census data,” Heniff said.

A need to make the districts as equal in population as possible was part of what spurred the careful census data review and led to the population challenge, he said.