Aurora’s special census will be in March 2025, although the process actually will start a week earlier in February.
City officials got those dates recently from the U.S. Census Bureau in response to the city entering into an agreement with the bureau last summer for the special census. Aldermen heard about the dates at last Tuesday’s City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
“We’re happy to see this move forward,” said Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, acting as mayor pro-tem for the meeting.
The city is paying the Census Bureau about $1 million to try to get a count closer to what city officials think is reality than the 180,000 population figure from the 2020 decennial census.
Officials have said getting closer to what they consider the real count, as much as 197,000 and possibly 200,000, would stem the tide of lost tax revenue the city has experienced since 2020.
Officials have said the new count would need to find only a little more than 1,000 more residents to pay for the special census. They have said it is worth it because the city is losing revenue – they have estimated it could be as much as $17 million by the time the special census is done – due to the perceived undercount.
The lost revenue comes because the city gets things like income tax distribution, local use taxes, motor fuel tax funds, transportation license renewal money and marijuana dispensary money based on population.
The city loses about $4.3 million a year due to the perceived undercount, which would mean $43 million for the full 10 years between 2020 and 2030, officials have said.
The special census would take place in all or part of eight of the city’s 10 wards. It would encompass parts of 35 census tracts in the city, seven of them entire tracts.
The count will focus on areas on the East Side where officials believe the Census Bureau missed people, or missed new construction.
The results of the 2020 decennial census showed Aurora with a population of about 180,000 people, down from 197,000 in 2010. From the moment the numbers were announced, Aurora officials said there was no way the city lost 17,000 residents, or about one ward’s worth of people.
Officials have said the fact the census was conducted in the midst of the pandemic shutdown, the fact a new federal administration was coming in at the time, and that it turned out the Census Bureau was using untested new technology all contributed to the low count.
The decennial census was a combination of local effort and work by the federal government. A concerted local effort to get people to reply online garnered a higher initial count than in 2010. It was after that, when the Census Bureau took over the actual door-to-door count of people who did not respond, that things went sideways, city officials said.
The special census will again take a concerted local effort, and the city of Aurora will begin recruiting people to be employed by the Census Bureau for that special count.
Alex Voigt, deputy chief of staff in the mayor’s office, told aldermen the city would like their help by recruiting as many as 10 people each from their wards. Information can be found at the city’s website, or at USAJobs.com.
According to the city’s website, the jobs can begin now and run through March 2025. The pay is $16.30 an hour, and would be about 20 hours a week.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old, although 16- or 17-year-old applicants with a high school diploma may be considered with certain restrictions. It requires a valid driver’s license to participate in field work.
The work would involve some door-to-door outreach in assigned neighborhoods, engaging people and distributing materials at local businesses, and helping organize community events, workshops and information sessions to educate the public about the census.
The special census will begin in February with four mailings directing people to the Census Bureau website where people can respond. The self-response time ends March 7, at which time the door-to-door count will begin.
To be counted as a resident for the special census, a person has to be living in Aurora by March 15, 2025.
slord@tribpub.com
