North Aurora may take special count of 2 neighborhoods

North Aurora is ordering a special census of part of the village in the hopes of getting more money out of the state each year.

The village board agreed Monday that spending about $51,000 to count people a census tract that contains the Mirador and Randall Highlands subdivisions was worthwhile.

Village employees estimate, based on the number of new single-family house building permits issued since the last census in 2010, that there may be at least 531 more people in that area. That's based on 231 permits, times an assumed average of 2.31 people per household.

The subdivisions are west of Randall Road, straddling Orchard Road.

The state calculates and pays the village a certain amount of sales tax, motor fuel tax, use tax and other payments on a per-person basis. Based on current payment rates of about $145 a person, North Aurora could get another $77,000 per year, said Bill Hannah, the village's finance director. It could be even more, as an additional 24 building permits have recently been issued for Randall Highlands, he said.

And having a higher population number could be even more important if state officials decide to decrease how much money they are willing to share with municipalities, Hannah said.

The board will vote on a formal resolution for the plan at its next meeting, he said.

It would take the Census Bureau six to seven months to perform the census, and several months to compile a report.

The next regular census is in 2020.