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Census = Cash

Story Published: Mar 28, 2011 at 5:13 PM EDT

Story Updated: Mar 28, 2011 at 6:52 PM EDT

For every person who returned a 2010 Census form and was included in the population count, he or she is more than just a number.

Each person is used in formulas that determine government aid programs for counties and municipalities and that translates into dollars.
 
"Each person that's counted by the census is worth about $2,000 in federal funds, according to a study by the Brookings Institution," said St. Lawrence County Planner John Tenbusch

Tenbusch has been scouring the census numbers which show the county's overall population remained stable over the past decade with just under 112,000 residents being counted.

Five villages, including Canton, posted gains in population, while Massena was among the eight villages seeing declines.

The city of Ogdensburg's population also dropped 10 percent to just over 11,000.

So what does that mean as far as future federal dollars coming to the county and its municipalities for programs like food stamps and housing grants and loans?
 
"Two thousand people times $2,000 a piece over ten years, that's over $40 million that we're likely to see in federal funds," said Tenbusch.
 
But those federal dollars won't come at a cost, the census numbers will also be used to draw new state and federal legislative redistricting lines for the next 10 years.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
, Watertown, NY

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