Census Count in Georgetown Could Hit 50,000

Has Georgetown hit the 50,000 population mark? Estimates show that Georgetown may have already surpassed 50,000, but the definitive answer awaits the results from the 2010 Census. Most survey forms will be mailed out next week, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The City of Georgetown planning department projects that the city’s population reached 50,000 in December. That’s a guess based on a formula that uses building permits to estimate population since the last census in 2000. In that year, the city’s population was 28,339.

Other than the symbolic importance of reaching 50,000 for Georgetown—a small town of less than 10,000 only 30 years ago—why does it matter? The 50,000 number has consequences for bricks-and-mortar projects and concrete for roads.

Here are some of the impacts of reaching the 50,000 population threshold:

• Georgetown can make its own decisions about federal grants for projects to serve low-income residents. These could include housing projects, Habitat for Humanity homes, after-school programs, or capital improvements like drainage ways and wastewater lines. Currently, the City gets Community Development Block Grant funding through Williamson County, but the City can determine its own projects and apply on its own at 50,000.

• Georgetown can qualify for more transportation funding for projects that serve low-income areas. Scoring for some projects, like the widening of FM 1460 between Georgetown and Round Rock, includes points for low-income populations.

• Georgetown gets an automatic seat on the board for the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which makes decisions about federal funding for transportation projects in the region.

• The City can control its own traffic signals. This means that Georgetown can do its own signal synchronization and upgrades without having to rely on TDXOT staff in Austin.

• Georgetown’s extra-territorial jurisdiction expands from 2 miles to 3.5 miles at 50,000. The ETJ is the area just outside City Limits where the City has some control over development and road standards, rules for signs, and drainage rules. The area that will expand is on the City’s northwest side, a high-growth area past Sun City.

Those changes could mean more funding for Georgetown, more ability to determine how funds are used, and more local control.

What makes the 50,000 mark even more important is that the areas of town with the lowest past participation rates in the census are the areas that could see some of the biggest benefit.

Only 48 percent of residents in one area south of downtown Georgetown mailed back their census survey in 2000. The response rate in the downtown area was 56 percent. The 2000 mail response rate for Georgetown was 73 percent overall.

Counting every resident in low-income areas is especially important for federal community development grants and transportation funding.

That’s why Georgetown is reaching out to these areas to let them know how the census count affects their neighborhood. City employees have been working with a group of volunteers to inform people about the 2010 Census with posters, emails, newsletters, cable channel messages, websites, and talks to service organizations and church groups. The theme of the outreach effort is “The Census Counts in Georgetown.”

Informing residents about the ways they are affected by the census count, especially as the city approaches the 50,000 population threshold, will be a focus in the upcoming weeks as the Census Bureau counts Georgetown’s residents.