The feds next year will count you and me

A meeting has taken place for Oconee County to be included in next year’s nationwide census that will give a snapshot of how much the county has grown in population and the various demographics that are associated with that. Adam Chapman, Oconee planner, took part in last week’s meeting that included representatives of the Census Bureau’s Atlanta office. The federal government has a strategy to ensure that everyone is counted. In some instances, it’s necessary for field representatives to knock on doors to get the number count as correct as possible. Other than knowing just how populated the cities, the counties, and the states, Census 2020 is important to create formulas that help dictate the amounts of federal aid local cities and counties qualify for. And, as a planner, that’s of great interest someone such as Chapman. He’s less interested in knowing whether Oconee will break the mark of 80 thousand year-round residents. But he wouldn’t be surprised if it does.