MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- Several mid-state communities are hoping to pull down more state and federal tax dollars by conducting population counts.
The federal government conducts a nationwide census every ten years. But a local community can conduct a special census in the years between. Murfreesboro, Brentwood, Ashland City, Smyrna, and LaVergne have all done so in recent months.
Murfreesboro Principal Planner Diana Tomlin says a just completed count finds the city has gained about 20,000 residents since 2010. She says that means roughly 2 million additional dollars Murfreesboro will receive in tax revenue.
But the city won’t see that money this year. Tomlin says Murfreesboro has to complete a couple more steps to finish the census.
Over the next couple of weeks a second set of census takers will be going door to door to verify the accuracy of the city’s count.
“The people coming out will be from Greater Nashville Regional Council. They will have on a lanyard that has their logo and they’ll knock on doors and verify us.”
That second count will be audited by yet another agency and then certified next spring by state lawmakers.
Diana Tomlin says the special counts are being driven by two factors. First, the increase last year in the state fuel tax means more money state revenue is available, and then there’s the region’s rapid growth.
“You know Middle Tennessee has just grown tremendously over the past ten years, twenty years. So when the growth is that rapid it makes a big difference.”
Murfreesboro planners say they expect the city will add another 100,000 residents by the year 2035.