Wheeling special census postponed due to government shutdown

The historic federal government shutdown that cost millions of Americans paychecks and financial aid before ending in mid-November had another casualty — Wheeling’s long-planned special census.

The census was supposed to begin in October. It was commissioned by the village board to prove Wheeling has grown since the 2020 federal census put the town at 39,137 people.

Population growth could net Wheeling a greater share of state tax revenues.

But because the federal government ceased most operations Oct. 1, preparations had to stop and the census was postponed.

“We only made it through the planning stages before being delayed,” Wheeling Finance Director Brian Smith said in an email Tuesday.

The shutdown ended Nov. 12 after a record 43 days. If census preparations were to resume now, it would result in workers going door to door in January.

That’s not a good month for a door-to-door census because of snowfall and reduced daylight hours, Smith said.

“The census team prefers not to knock on doors after dusk because people are less likely to open doors at that time,” he said.

January poses other issues, too.

The U.S. Census Bureau was included in the governmental hiring freeze President Donald Trump ordered the day he began his second term. The agency received a waiver allowing it to bring on staff through Dec. 31. An extension of that waiver will be needed to hire census workers in 2026.

Additionally, the agency is being funded by a congressional continuing resolution. If a federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year isn’t finalized by Jan. 31, the agency won’t be able to pay census workers, Smith said.

Wheeling officials are working with U.S. Census officials to reschedule the project for a late spring or early summer start, Smith said.

The village is covering the cost of the project, which required an advance of nearly $547,000. Of that sum, about $5,000 has been spent so far, Smith said. If the census is canceled, the balance would be refunded.

Village leaders are confident Wheeling’s population has increased because several multifamily residential complexes have been completed and occupied since the 2020 census.

Special censuses can count heads in an entire community or within specific boundaries. Wheeling’s will focus on neighborhoods north of Hintz Road and east of Schoenbeck Road. That’ll include the relatively new ONE Wheeling Town Center, Uptown 500 and Union Apartments complexes, among others.

Homes have been built since 2020 in other parts of Wheeling, too, but expanding the survey villagewide would increase the cost beyond the anticipated tax revenue bump, officials have said.

More information about the planned special census — including links to job applications — is available at wheelingil.gov.