Most of the seven cities doing a special mid-decade census will finish the count this week.
Peoria will finish its door-to-door count Monday. In the next week people who feel they may have been missed can call in to be counted. Julie Ayers is leading the Peoria special census.
She said the city is running a little behind, “We had originally anticipated the count to be complete before Thanksgiving so we are probably a week or two, a little bit delayed from our original projections.”
The city originally projected a total population of 164,000, which could mean at least an extra $2 million dollars in state shared revenue in the next five years.
Another West Valley city finished their count early. Buckeye completed its count by mid-November. Preliminary numbers show the population grew by 10,000 in the last five years.
That growth will equal about $1.5 million dollars more in state shared revenue to the city each year until the count is re-done in 2020. Buckeye spokeswoman Jennifer Rogers says the 600 square mile city is planning to use the money for infrastructure.
“We have an extensive capital improvement list,” She said adding water, gas and sewer lines will allow for retail expansion. “Our residents really want more amenities and more retail and so we are trying to build out some infrastructure.”
Buckeye and the six other cities and towns across the Valley participating in the special census will get official counts early next year. These numbers are expected to come back from the U.S. Census Bureau in time for the state to allocate its state shared revenues to the cities.
