Most Recent Action
Passed the Senate March 23, 2009, 31-0. Taken off notice in the House May 20, 2009
Background
The state allocates certain revenues to local governments on a per capita basis as determined through the federal decennial census.
Municipalities are authorized to conduct a special census during the intervening ten-year period between federal censuses; however, state law limits the number of such censuses a municipality may conduct.
Under current law, a municipality may not conduct more than three special censuses in most cases; however, there are a couple of instances in which a municipality is limited to just two such censuses during the ten-year period between federal censuses.
In light of the burden that must be borne solely by any municipality that chooses to conduct a special census of its entire population, such censuses are almost exclusively limited to those municipalities that have experienced a substantial influx of new residents.
Once results of a special census have been certified by the proper state and federal authorities, then the municipality’s population is updated to reflect those results and all future per capita allocations of revenue from the state are based upon the updated population. Thus, the special census provides the only means by which a municipality that has experienced a significant increase in population may increase its share of state allocated revenues during the ten-year period between federal censuses.
Certainly, there is a need for municipalities and counties to enjoy some degree of certainty with respect to the amount of revenues they can expect to receive from the state in any given year. Fortunately, the statutes provide protections other than the existing limits on special census, which satisfy a local government’s need for certainty while ensuring the process is not abused.
For example, the requirement that municipalities assume full responsibility for conducting the census and pay all costs associated with a special census ensures that no local government will undertake an effort to count its population absent a reasonable expectation that any additional revenues to be gained would exceed the cost incurred to conduct the census.
Moreover, the requirement that the special census results must be independently reviewed and certified by the state as well as the federal government guarantees municipalities will ensure such counts are carefully planned, are carried out by trained personnel, and are conducted in a manner that will ensure the validity of the results. Otherwise, the municipality risks expending time and resources on a census that is certain to be invalidated.
Problem
The limits currently imposed on the number of special census a municipality may conduct on its entire population are unnecessary and arbitrary. Consequently, as a municipality’s population increases, its ability to address growth-related issues and to continue to meet the needs of its citizens is severely restricted. In addition, the limits ensure that the tax burden borne by residents of a municipality experiencing sustained growth is disproportionate to those residing in other municipalities.
Municipalities that experience a substantial increase in population necessarily encounter many challenges related to growth. As a municipality experiences growth, it conducts a special census and its revised population total results in an increase in the amount of revenue it receives. Hence, the special census is a mechanism that provides a municipality with the means to address issues related to growth.
However, on occasion, a municipality experiences a substantial increase in its population that is sustained over a period of more than five years. In such instances, the arbitrary limits currently imposed under the statutes effectively preclude the municipality’s official population from reflecting the actual number of individuals residing in the city.
And as the official population is used to determine the allocation of revenues that are distributed on a per capita basis, a municipality that has sustained growth but is precluded from conducting another special census will not receive its fair share. Therefore, in order to continue to meet growth-related needs, such a municipality may be obligated to offset the revenues it would have otherwise received via the per capita distribution with local tax revenues; thereby increasing the tax burden on its citizens.
Proposed Legislation
Eliminate the current statutory limits to allow local governments to conduct an unlimited number of special censuses between federal decennial censuses.
Benefits to Municipalities
Additional revenues generated by a special census, however often they may be justified, would leave municipalities better equipped to manage infrastructure and service obligations to a growing population.
