Haines Borough is challenging the official count of its population. Haines Borough is challenging the U.S. government’s official count of its population. The Haines Borough claims it is claiming that the Census Bureau undercounted the town’s population by around 20 percent. The money could threaten millions of dollars in federal funds in the coming decade.
The census for 2020 showed Haines its population at 2080, which was down from 2,508 10 years earlier. This immediately set off alarm bells for the borough’s officials.
“If we lost 500 people, you’d be able to feel it in the town,” said Haines Borough Clerk Alekka Fullerton. “You will notice it in empty homes as well as in schools and on voter lists.”
Census counts occur every 10 years, and they help to determine U.S. House district maps and how the nearly $3 trillion of federal funding is distributed across the country. There’s no formula that can be used to determine the amount that an uncounted portion of Haines the population could be costing the borough, however there is a consensus that the Alaska Department of Labor estimated that in 2018, each person not counted would cost $30,000 in federal funds over the course of 10 years.
This could mean that the city could lose up to $15 million in funding.
Fullerton stated that she along with Andrew Conrad, the new Borough planner, sifted through every housing unit in the borough’s records unit-by-unit to determine the areas where residents might live and in the borough and how they could be missing out.
“We discovered a number of large inconsistencies.” Fullerton said. Fullerton, “There were places in which there was a cluster of mailboxes that had identical addresses and it was determined that the Census Bureau counted it as one.”
David Howell, a state demographer, claimed Haines appeal “absolutely” was a convincing argument to support its appeal.
“It was a fairly comprehensive undercount in that Mosquito Lake area. There were a lot of housing units that mysteriously vanished,” said Howell.
Howell explained that the state’s annual estimation for Haines actually showed 100 more people in the Haines population since 2010.
While the borough had suspected an mistake for months but it didn’t file its formal challenge until the 29th of June on the day prior to the deadline. Fullerton said it was being the result in “hours and hours days” working.
It’s not a guarantee that outcomes will be altered. Memphis, Tenn., for instance, questioned the Bureau’s estimate of population. Following the Census looked into the issue, it decreased its numbers by three individuals. Other challenges have resulted an increase of over a thousand people.
“They do not like changing,” said Howell, however “We are fairly certain that it was not a complete count at Haines.”
Nils Andreassen director for the Alaska Municipal League, said many communities approached his organization, even though Haines was the one and only location to make a request.
“I think it could be more common if everyone was able to be aware However, it’s not a simple process,” he said.
Borough officials were not able to provide an estimated time frame for when their dispute could be addressed. Certain challenges that were filed previously have been analyzed. In the Associated Press reported that the number of challenges submitted means that future challenges could take several months to settle.
Whatever the outcome regardless of the outcome, the borough officials declare that they are happy to have the matter resolved and taken off their plate.
“This is a major stressor my own personal stress,” Fullerton said.
