census - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T13:09:58Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/censusAlong the Coast: Census response rates lag with a month remaininghttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-census-response-rates-lag-with-a-month-remaining2020-09-02T16:15:05.000Z2020-09-02T16:15:05.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Charles Elmore</strong></p>
<p>With a sped-up 2020 U.S. Census deadline fast approaching Sept. 30, 11 towns and cities along Palm Beach County’s southern coast risk what one mayor calls a “10-year hurt” as their response rates lag behind U.S. and Florida averages.<br />As of Aug. 23, response rates ranged as low as 42.4% for households in South Palm Beach, with Ocean Ridge and Highland Beach also under 50% and all 11 trailing Florida’s average of 60.9%, federal records showed. The U.S. average was 64.2%. <br />Lantana stood at 52.5%. Its lowest response levels came in the town’s easternmost census tract in its Hypoluxo Island neighborhood, where the rate was 41.4%. <br />The response snapshot can change with each passing day, but the stakes do not. Hanging in the balance is funding estimated at $1,600 lost annually for each person missed, for roads, schools, environmental and other programs, not to mention Florida’s chances to gain more seats in Congress. The effects last for a decade.<br />Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart had a message in an Aug. 24 meeting for any residents who have not acted because they don’t care or think it is not important.<br />“It’s going to hurt bad,” Stewart said. “It is a 10-year hurt, that’s what people don’t understand. We’re stuck with those numbers for 10 years.”<br />Among other enticements, Lantana is raffling off a 65-inch TV for residents who show proof of responding to the census.<br />“Our message to residents is RESPOND NOW,” Nicole Dritz, Lantana’s development services director, said in an email. “Don’t wait for the Sept. 30th deadline. If our residents respond now to the census, it will yield a favorable response rate for the town.”<br />A federal review concluded about 94,000 people who should have been counted in Palm Beach County, or 7.2% of its population, failed to make it on census rolls in 2010.<br />In an eventful 2020, it’s not immediately clear to local officials how much about the response rates can be explained by disruptions related to COVID-19, or seasonal residents who wound up in other places during the pandemic, or immigrants wary of being counted, or residents who are here but just forgot or did not bother.<br />“It’s hard to say at this time what impact COVID-19 will have on the reporting since everyone is trying to navigate these new waters,” Dritz said.<br />As of Aug. 23, Boca Raton showed a 60.8% response rate, within an eyelash of the state average.<br />“As a city we’re not lagging, but I’d prefer we be leading,” Mayor Scott Singer said. “That’s why the city has continued to communicate the importance of responding. It takes a minute online and will avoid the need for enumerators to visit your home.”<br />The 2020 census marks the first to allow wide-scale responses online as well as by mail or phone, but that had not raised overall participation rates by late August in southern Palm Beach County.<br />Things got even more urgent when the Census Bureau moved up the deadline for all self-responses as well as field visits by census workers to the end of September, a month earlier than previously announced.<br />“We will improve the speed of our count without sacrificing completeness,” U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a statement Aug. 3. “Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities.”<br />U.S. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer questioned why officials were “rushing the census count in the middle of a pandemic” and called for an investigation into possible political pressure from the Trump administration. At a national level, Democrats have expressed concern that immigrants, lower-income residents and others might get undercounted on a faster timetable. At least one lawsuit by a coalition of urban groups has sought to extend the deadline.<br />But in South Florida this year, relatively affluent coastal communities are also struggling to reach their 2010 response rates.<br />Highland Beach, for example, showed a 45.6% response rate by Aug. 23, compared to 49.8% in 2010, according to 2020census.gov. <br />Census officials did not respond to requests to discuss how well they have met local hiring goals for workers to check on non-responsive households, or whether any problems have occurred with handling responses online.<br />An oversight report prepared for Congress in February noted the Census Bureau had, fairly late in the process, changed to a backup online system after the first one struggled with high-volume testing.<br />Whatever the reasons, response rates in the region have lagged.<br />With little more than a month to go, Delray Beach (51.8%) trailed its final 2010 response rate (61.3%) by nearly 10 points.<br />There’s still time to change the numbers and things could look different as September unfolds. <br />But as of Aug. 23, Briny Breezes (54.2%), Boynton Beach (58.7%), Gulf Stream (54.2%), Hypoluxo (50.9%), Manalapan (50.2%), and Ocean Ridge (48.2%) had yet to match their final 2010 self-response rates.</p>
<p><em>Mary Thurwachter and Mary Hladky contributed to this story.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>More info</strong><br /> Check census response rates in your town:<br /><a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html?">https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html?</a><br /> A statement about why census deadlines were moved one month earlier:<br /><a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/delivering-complete-accurate-count.html">https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/delivering-complete-accurate-count.html</a></p></div>South Palm Beach: Town manager, mayor find errors in census to blame for population drophttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-town-manager-mayor-find-errors-in-census-to-blam2019-12-31T22:56:37.000Z2019-12-31T22:56:37.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Dan Moffett</strong></p>
<p>Dozens of South Palm Beach residents seem to have disappeared over the past decade — gone missing with scarcely a trace or a clue.<br /> Whole buildings appear to have been wiped off the town’s map, erased as if by some cosmic delete key.<br />What sounds like the script for a low-budget science fiction movie has been reality for Robert Kellogg, the town manager, who has spent much of the past year trying to unravel the enigma.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960918479,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960918479,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960918479?profile=original" /></a>During the Town Council’s Dec. 10 meeting, Kellogg announced he has done just that.<br /> “The mystery has been solved,” he said, “and what we discovered is what we suspected from the very beginning.”<br /> Blame the U.S. Census Bureau.<br /> It turns out the federal government’s people-counting agency made an unfortunate error when it conducted the 2010 census. The town’s two southernmost condo buildings — Imperial House and South Palm Villas — were counted as part of Lantana.<br /> No one is quite sure how the error happened. But it cost the town about 130 condo units and perhaps as many as 200 residents in population. This helps explain why the 1990 census found 1,480 people in the town and the 2010 count came in at 1,171.<br /> In between, there were major problems with the 2000 census, which first put the town’s population at 699 and then months later corrected it to 1,455. For some reason, the government has trouble counting South Palm Beachers.<br /> The consequences of an inaccurate count can be far-reaching. Mail service to the two buildings has been affected. The Florida League of Cities says each person is worth about $1,600 when the state goes after some $700 billion in federal funds each year. Municipal population is also a factor in state and county decision-making.<br /> Mayor Bonnie Fischer said she noticed the error when looking at FEMA flood zone maps that excluded the two condo buildings. This was especially alarming to Fischer, who lives in Imperial House and doesn’t want to go down in history as the first Lantana resident to be elected mayor of South Palm Beach.<br /> Kellogg said he is working with the Census Bureau to correct the mapping mistakes, and the town is hopeful the agency will perform better for the coming 2020 count. <br /> In other business:<br /> • Council members say they are looking at internet alert systems or other ways to get emergency information to residents after a water main break Thanksgiving weekend exposed communication shortcomings.<br /> The break occurred the evening of Nov. 29 outside The Mayfair condos, and part of the town lost water service for hours. Palmsea Condominiums reported damage to its pumps because of the interruption.<br /> A boil-water advisory went into effect soon after the break, but officials were hard-pressed to get the word to residents. Officials resorted to posting fliers in condo lobbies.<br /> “What good is it to put notices up at 11 o’clock at night?” Fischer said.<br /> The city of West Palm Beach supplies the town’s water, and Kellogg said the utility department insists on controlling messaging. Vice Mayor Robert Gottlieb said the council has to look at better use of the internet and social media to transmit essential information to residents.<br /> • Three candidates have qualified for two open council seats in the March 17 election.<br /> Gottlieb is seeking another term. Former Councilwoman Elvadianne Culbertson, who ran unsuccessfully last March, and Ray McMillan, who ran unsuccessfully in 2018, also have filed.<br /> Incumbent Councilwoman Stella Gaddy Jordan has decided not to seek another term. Ú</p></div>Our new neighbors: Refugees from high-tax stateshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/our-new-neighbors-refugees-from-high-tax-states2019-07-03T15:30:00.000Z2019-07-03T15:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960879852,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960879852,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960879852?profile=original" /></a></b></span></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size:12pt;"><b>The numbers are in: <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/technology-is-deterrent-security-devices-help-drive-down-burglari" target="_blank">Crime</a> | <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/slow-steady-growth-appraiser-calls-trend-healthy-likely-to-contin" target="_blank">Property Values</a></b></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Mary Hladky</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Federal tax law changes in 2017 are persuading more people to flee high-tax states like New York and relocate to lower taxing Florida.</p>
<p class="p3">U.S. Census Bureau estimates show Florida’s population has increased from 18.8 million in 2010 to 21.3 million last year, cementing the state’s position as the nation’s third-largest behind California and Texas.</p>
<p class="p3">Palm Beach County’s population jumped 12.6 percent during the same time period to nearly 1.5 million, the Census Bureau reported in May.</p>
<p class="p3">Boca Raton added nearly 15,000 residents, more than any other city in the county, to bring its estimated population to 99,244.</p>
<p class="p3">Falling in line behind Boca Raton in south Palm Beach County, Manalapan, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach all saw gains of more than 14 percent.</p>
<p class="p3">Politicians in high-tax states, including New York, New Jersey and California, and local real estate experts point to the tax overhaul as helping propel the growth because it placed a $10,000 cap on deductions of state, local and property taxes on federal returns.</p>
<p class="p3">The legislation included the cap on the so-called SALT deduction as a way to pay for some of the $1.5 trillion tax cuts for individuals and corporations.</p>
<p class="p3">The impact of the cap can be substantial. Citing the Tax Institute at H&R Block, Bloomberg reported in January that a New Yorker with $10 million in ordinary income and a $10 million home would have saved $1,173,278 in total taxes by relocating to Florida on Jan. 1, 2018, when the tax law took effect.</p>
<p class="p3">An analysis by the Partnership for New York City, which represents the city’s largest private-sector employers, showed that a family of four that earns $175,000 in the city will pay 25 percent of its income in taxes, compared to 14 percent for the same family in Florida.</p>
<p class="p3">A married Floridian making $10 million gets $227,619 in tax relief, while a married New Yorker is hit with a $257,177 tax hike because of tax deduction cap, according to the analysis.</p>
<p class="p3">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blames the tax law for driving people out of the state and causing a $2.3 billion state budget shortfall. He mentioned Florida as an attractive option for New Yorkers unhappy with the law, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> reported in February.</p>
<p class="p3">Congressional Democrats have introduced several pieces of legislation to roll back the deduction cap.</p>
<p class="p3">The Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s nonpartisan tax scorekeeper, determined in June that a cap repeal would lower the tax burden of those with income of at least $1 million by $40.4 billion.</p>
<p class="p3">“It is very real,” Jay Phillip Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman Florida, said of the migration of affluent people from high-tax states to Florida because of the tax overhaul.</p>
<p class="p3">“There was a slow trickle after (the tax law) was released,” he said. “But the implications didn’t come into full effect until this year.”</p>
<p class="p3">Parker thinks the outflow to Florida, especially from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and California, will continue to increase. “We think we are in the first inning of a long game,” he said.</p>
<p class="p3">Parker spoke on the subject at a forum hosted by developer Penn-Florida Cos. and Douglas Elliman real estate brokerage on May 22 at the sales gallery of The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, a 92-unit luxury condo that will sit next to a Mandarin Oriental hotel now under construction in Boca Raton. Douglas Elliman is handling sales and marketing.</p>
<p class="p3">The Residences is the type of project that would benefit from affluent people fleeing the Northeast. Penn-Florida has not released sales figures.</p>
<p class="p3">The tax law change “is driving a lot of our business,” said Jeffrey Levine, president of the Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale.</p>
<p class="p3">“We are seeing a lot of relocation (from the Northeast) in my office,” he said. “Other agents are all saying the same thing.”</p>
<p class="p3">Kelly Smallridge, CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, said she has seen an increase in people and companies interested in relocating to avoid high taxes.</p>
<p class="p3">“Our phones definitely are ringing from companies looking to escape the high-tax environment,” she said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt that we have the best quality of life in Palm Beach County.”</p>
<p class="p3">Many of those migrating to Florida have high incomes.</p>
<p class="p3">A Bloomberg analysis of data from the Internal Revenue Service and the Census Bureau, published in May, found that Florida was the top recipient of a wealth exodus from 18 states. Incomes from people moving into the state were $17.2 billion more than the incomes of those leaving the state.</p>
<p class="p3">New York, Illinois and New Jersey contributed a total of about $8 billion to Florida’s income base.</p>
<p class="p3">New York’s annual net loss was the nation’s highest, with $8.4 billion leaving the state. Exiting incomes of $19.1 billion were replaced by people who brought in $10.7 billion less in income, according to the Bloomberg analysis.</p>
<p class="p3">Although there is no debate that the SALT cap has played a role in pushing people out of high-tax states, some contend the impact has been overblown. But there’s little hard data yet because the cap’s effects have drawn attention only recently.</p>
<p class="p3">The University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research surveyed about 6,000 Florida residents last year on their primary reason for moving to Florida. Family and marriage were cited by 33.5 percent, climate and weather by 26.7 percent and a new job or job transfer by 13.6 percent.</p>
<p class="p3">They were not asked about taxes. But they were asked about low cost of living, which those surveyed might have selected if taxes were a key issue. Only 3.4 percent cited that as their primary reason.</p>
<p class="p3">“For some, (the SALT deduction cap) could be a motivating factor,” said Rich Doty, a research demographer for the bureau. “3.4 percent indicates it as not as big a factor as some say.”</p>
<p class="p3">He also questioned the economic benefit to the state if wealthy people come for whatever reason. Many of those relocating to Florida are retirees, and while they will buy houses or condos and boost the local economy, their overall impact might not be that significant.</p>
<p class="p3">“A lot of the retirees who are coming aren’t looking to invest in local businesses,” he said. “They are looking to retire.”</p>
<p class="p3">Further, Florida has always attracted people from other states. The obvious selling points are no state income tax, warm climate, ocean vistas and a lower cost of living than in many other parts of the country.</p>
<p class="p3">There’s also the question of why people are moving now, when a number of states and cities have levied heavy taxes for years. Some think the SALT deduction cap is the straw that broke the camel’s back, pushing people who were on the fence to act.</p>
<p class="p3">Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach, believes that people in high-tax states are relocating and that the SALT deduction cap is one of the reasons.</p>
<p class="p3">But he also cites Florida’s pre-existing advantages, including no state income tax and luxury homes that cost about half as much as they do in the Northeast.</p>
<p class="p3">Incoming residents “get a better value and lower taxes,” he said. “And they have the sunshine and the water.”</p>
<p class="p3">Levine suggested that the UF bureau conduct a new survey. “If they did the study today, it would be a big difference,” he said. “The people contacting us did not see the effects of the tax law until the later part of 2018.”</p>
<p class="p3">The U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent state-to-state migration data showed that more New Yorkers came to Florida in the previous year than from any other state. They numbered nearly 64,000, followed by nearly 39,000 from Georgia, nearly 32,000 from Texas, nearly 31,000 from California, and nearly 29,000 each from Illinois and Pennsylvania.</p>
<p class="p3">Boca Raton’s population increased by 17.6 percent since 2010.</p>
<p class="p3">“Boca’s population is increasing because more and more people realize what an attractive place this is to live, work, raise a family, play, learn and retire,” said Mayor Scott Singer. “We are going to continue to see growth as long as our brand remains strong and people see the many virtues of living in Boca, especially compared to higher tax and older cities.”</p>
<p class="p3">The city prides itself on its low tax rate and the quality of its schools.</p>
<p class="p3">Singer also noted that about half of the corporations with headquarters in Palm Beach County are located in Boca Raton. One of them, Modernizing Medicine, is adding 850 high-paying jobs over the next five years, he said.</p>
<p class="p3">Although it did not add as many people as Boca Raton, Jupiter had the county’s highest population increase since 2010 by percentage at 18.5. The town added just over 10,200 residents, bringing the total to 65,524. </p></div>Briny Breezes: Plan would allow houses, more commerce in townhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-plan-would-allow-houses-more-commerce-in-town2013-01-02T17:30:00.000Z2013-01-02T17:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>NOTE: The January 17 public hearing on the Briny Breezes Comprehensive Plan has been postponed until early March based on revisions requested by the town attorney.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Tim O’Meilia</strong><br /> <br /> More than six years ago, Briny Breezes residents voted to remake the town into a resort including 20-story towers, a 350-room beachfront hotel and rows of three-story condos.<br /> That half-billion-dollar dream would have created dozens of instant millionaires of modest mobile home dwellers. That deal collapsed in 2007 of its own ambition — state regulators said it was too big for its own good.<br /> Now, the 43-acre town/trailer park is taking its first steps toward designing a more modest future.<br /> The town’s Planning and Zoning Board has unveiled a new comprehensive land use plan that would allow more than mobile homes in town. The plan would allow traditional one- and two-story single-family homes, a commercial corridor of town-serving businesses and low-rise multi-story condos and rental units on the west side.<br /> “Our mission is to give Briny permission to evolve if it chooses to,” said planning board Chairman Jerry Lower.<br /> The board has scheduled a Jan. 17, 4 p.m. public hearing on the plan at the Town Hall.<br /> Whatever is recommended will go to the Town Council for approval later. The town has an April 2013 deadline to complete the land use plan, which hasn’t been changed since 1989.<br /> The land use plan is more concept than hard-and-fast requirement. The plan does not specify building types or heights and refers to stores and businesses only in general terms. <br /> Regardless of what the Town Council eventually endorses, the shareholders of Briny Breezes Inc., the mobile home co-op that owns the entire area of the town, control any change that actually occurs. Mobile home owners hold shares in the corporation based on their size of their lots. <br /> “This is a blueprint to permit the corporation to do what it wants, to deviate from just a trailer park, if it wants,” said Mayor Roger Bennett.<br /> The key component of the plan allows “owners to have the ability, with the corporate board’s approval, to replacing existing mobile homes with one- or two-story residential units that are more storm-worthy and insurable than a mobile home,” Lower said.<br /> The town has survived the hurricanes and tropical storms of 2004 and later with relatively minor damage.<br /> Briny Breezes was founded in the mid-1950s as a destination for people who drive travel-trailers to Florida on vacation. The town remains a largely seasonal area.<br /> The A1A commercial corridor leaves much to the imagination. The only businesses in town now are a hairdresser and a family-run drug store. Suggestions have included a barber shop, an urgent care center and an ice cream shop, all requiring little parking. <br /> Briny’s high-rise plans of the mid-2000s drew harsh criticism from neighboring towns fearing increased traffic and congestion.<br /> “I applaud their efforts. They’re giving themselves the chance to grow and change,” said Kristine de Haseth, chairwoman of the Florida Coalition for Preservation, which vehemently opposed the previous plan.<br /> De Haseth has attended many of the planning and zoning board’s meetings. “The plan absolutely makes sense to us. We’re delighted they’re actually, after 23 years, starting to self-evaluate and plan for the future.”<br /> Lower said he sees support from officials in surrounding towns. “I‘ve talked to people in Ocean Ridge and Gulf Stream and they’re excited about the idea of Briny evolving over time, especially the idea of more storm-worthy buildings.” <br /> The plan has been several years in the making. Rather than hire an outside consultant, the Town Council commissioned Town Attorney Jerome Skrandel, who also has a corporate background, to help craft the plan with the Planning and Zoning Board. <br /> “I’m very pleased with Mr. Skrandel’s work,” Bennett said. “He has an understanding of the town that an outside firm wouldn’t have.”<br /> Briny is basing its plan on housing and population figures that are at odds with the 2010 census. While the U.S. Census counts 601 residents and 800 homes — a nearly 50 percent increase of both over 2000 — Briny claims only 417 permanent and 488 homes. The town figures a seasonal population of 924 which could expand to 1,161 by 2015. <br /> The town has filed an appeal of its housing and population figures. <br /> <br /> <em>Editor’s Note: Jerry Lower is the owner/publisher of The Coastal Star and a property owner in both Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge.</em></p></div>Briny Breezes: Town challenges Census counthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-town-challenges-census-count2011-09-28T21:24:12.000Z2011-09-28T21:24:12.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Tim O’Meilia<br /> <br />The U.S. Census Bureau says the seaside mobile home town of Briny Breezes has precisely 800 homes. Everyone in town knows that’s wrong by several hundred.<br /> Just walk down the street and count them: 484. <br /> The bureau was much closer to the actual number in 2000, when it declared 534 mobile homes were in town.<br /> So the Town Council has challenged the census count of housing. “We will be in touch with the University of Florida regarding the current census data,” Town Attorney Jerome Skrandel said at the Sept. 9 council meeting. <br /> The school’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research keeps track of population, housing, sales and other trends on an annual basis. Based on such statistics as electrical connections and water and sewer hookups, the bureau keeps yearly tabs on Florida’s economic trends. <br /> Skrandel also may tap the statistics from the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office to bolster the town’s claim. <br /> “When they correct the housing units, they will also correct our population. We will use the new numbers for our comprehensive plan,” Skrandel said.<br /> But fewer dwelling units likely will mean fewer people in town. <br /> The town’s 601 official residents may shrink closer to a more likely 411, the number in the 2000 census. Officials found it hard to believe that Briny’s population jumped by 46.2 percent in 10 years.<br /> “The census figure for population is related to the number of persons per household,” Skrandel said. “They didn’t actually count noses. They used a statistical approach.”<br /> The population number is derived from multiplying the number of dwellings by the expected number of people per household, which varies from census parcel to parcel.<br /> A lower population could cost the town a few dollars in revenue-sharing money from the state. <br />“I don’t know if it’s that significant an issue,” said Skrandel, suggesting that the difference in money based on 411 townspeople or 601 would be negligible.<br /> In other business, conducted at meetings Sept. 9 and Sept. 22, the Town Council:<br /> • Approved by a 4-0 vote an agreement “in principle” with Briny Breezes Inc. that would require the corporation to pay for 30 percent of the cost of fire-rescue service from Boynton Beach, 30 percent of the cost of police protection from Ocean Ridge and all of the cost of utility service from Boynton Beach. The one-year agreement was proposed by the corporation to solidify the ongoing practice. The corporation is expected to consider the contract at its November meeting.<br /> • Agreed by a 4-0 vote to allow property-owners and shareholders, as well as residents, to be members of the planning and zoning board. The question was raised because two members of the board own property but do not live in town. Current law says that when the board sits as the local planning agency, members must be residents. The change will require an ordinance amendment. Ú<br /></div>Coastal communities question Census accuracyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/coastal-communities-question2011-03-31T19:44:04.000Z2011-03-31T19:44:04.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Tim O’Meilia<br /> <br />The towns of South Palm Beach and Highland Beach have more registered voters than they have actual flesh-and-blood residents. You can look it up.<br />The seaside enclave of Briny Breezes suddenly has 800 not-so-mobile homes, the U.S. Census says. But everyone in town knows that a walk-around count reveals only 487 homes.<br />The figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau in March have some coastal towns in a tizzy over the numbers that will be used to redraw state and congressional districts and, more importantly, for each town’s cut of state revenue.<br />The census pegs South Palm Beach at 1,171 folks — 360 fewer than 10 years ago — but the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections has 1,292 voters on its rolls.<br />“They say we have less people than we have voters. Do we have 120 illegal voters?” asked exasperated South Palm Beach Mayor Donald Clayman. “Did we bring them in just to vote?”<br />Not only that, but the census numbers are less than the 1,523 people the University of Florida Bureau of Economic Research estimated the town had last year. The bureau bases its numbers on electrical connections and other factors.<br />Town Manager Rex Taylor suspects the shortfall may have come because when census counters tried to do follow-ups in the town’s condominiums, doormen wouldn’t let them in. <br />“Unless he’s got a uniform or a 911 call, he doesn’t get in,” Taylor said.<br />Coastal towns also have to deal with the reality of part-time residents who declare somewhere Up North or Back East as their primary residence. That means towns have higher seasonal populations than the census gives them credit for, costing them state money.<br />It’s not the first time South Palm Beach was shortchanged by federal counters. “In 2000, they screwed it up. We’ve got calls in to Atlanta now,” Clayman said. Atlanta is the regional census headquarters. <br />Ten years ago, the census said South Palm Beach had only 699 people, less than half of what town residents knew lived there. A two-year appeal resulted in a correction to 1,171 people, which brought the town a $60,000 increase in revenue-sharing money.<br />In Highland Beach, the census says the town has 3,539 residents, 20 fewer than the number of registered voters. <br />“The numbers don’t work,” said Highland Beach Commissioner John Pagliaro, who figures the town’s year-round population is about 4,300.<br />The town apparently lost 100 housing units in the past 10 years. “We’ve had some homes demolished, but they were all single family homes,” Pagliaro said.<br />The town has barely more homes than residents, suggesting that Highland Beach has an extraordinarily high number of singles. <br />Some residents complained to town officials that they didn’t receive census forms to fill out. <br />“When you count registered voters, you’ve had people actually fill out a form to vote,” said interim Town Manager Kathleen Weiser, suggesting that may be more a more reliable number. “This is a blatant difference.”<br />One explanation for the discrepancy between registered voters and residents is that voters who die or move away may remain on the voting rolls for several years. But even if that accounts for several hundred people, the numbers still suggest that nearly every resident is a registered voter. <br />“We did everything so well,” said South Palm Beach’s Clayman. “We held parties, gave out T-shirts at every town affair, gave talks at the condominiums. You don’t know how aggravating this is. We don’t have that many people to start with. We want all of them counted.”<br /><br /><strong>Some towns pleased</strong><br />Not everyone was unhappy. Ocean Ridge had a 9.2 percent increase. <br />“Basically, we have no argument with the numbers,” said Town Manager Ken Schenck where the population rose by 150 to 1,786. Like other coastal towns , Ocean Ridge figures the winter brings in 1,000 more part-time residents that are likely accounted for elsewhere.<br />Despite the apparently wrong count of housing units in Briny Breezes, the population increased by 46.2 percent to 601 residents.<br />“Surprisingly, we went up,” said Mayor Roger Bennett, who estimates the town has a seasonal population of more than 1,000. He said the increased number may help the town’s prospectus if it seeks a new buyer for the town.<br />Manalapan, the smallest village on the coast, logged an increase of 85 to a 406 total. “We’re very pleased,” said Town Clerk Lisa Petersen.<br />Gulf Stream’s increase to 786 residents may be less than its real population since it super-sized in March, Town Manager William Thrasher suspects. The annexed county pocket likely wasn’t included in the census figures taken two years ago. <br /><br /><strong>Claims begin in June</strong><br />If a town or other government subdivision believes its numbers are wrong, it must wait until June 1 to file an appeal — called a Count Question Resolution — no matter how obvious the error may be, said U.S. Census geographer Nancy Bechler in the regional office in Atlanta.<br />“No field workers will be sent to re-count. The town must provide supporting documentation such as electrical connections or <br />voting records to back its claim.” <br /> <br /></div>South Palm Beach: Full house at ice cream social gets info on censushttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-full-house-at2010-03-04T20:57:46.000Z2010-03-04T20:57:46.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960289479,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<br />By Christine Davis <br />Quiet please. Counting calories is voluntary. Taking part in the census count is mandatory.<br /> South Palm Beach’s ice cream social on Feb. 21 at Town Hall, offered an opportunity for free ice cream and cookies, free U.S. Census T-shirts and a free talk explaining the census. <br /> “We have been pushing hard since day one — Jan. 6.” Town Councilman Donald Clayman said about his group of 16 volunteers.<br /> “We want to make sure residents know how important it is. It will affect our congressional representation and Florida has millions to lose in federal funds, if enough people don’t fill out their census forms.” <br />Town Manager Rex Taylor asked Clayman to organize a volunteer group in conjunction with the National Census Bureau to ensure that South Palm Beach residents are informed on the census and its impact.<br /> The federal government allocates $400 billion annually to states and communities based partly on census data. “That is money spent on infrastructure, schools, hospitals — the Lantana bridge is an example,” Clayman said.<br /> “We lost out on $160,000 in the last census,” adds Lee Zimmerman, a past councilman and vice mayor from 2002 to 2008, who was attending the social. “If we don’t fill out the forms correctly, we will lose out again.”<br /> South Palm Beach is comprised of 1,849 condominium units, four single-family homes and one business: a hotel, the Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn, with 58 units. According to the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research estimates for 2009, South Palm Beach had a permanent population of 1,523. The town’s estimate of its seasonal is 3,200.<br /> “Last Census, 45 percent of South Palm Beach residents filled out their forms,” Clayman said. “We are going for 80 percent this time.” <br /> “If you are residing in South Palm Beach at the time of the census, we want you to fill out the forms for South Palm Beach. If you are a vacationer for a short period of time — two to three weeks — you would fill out your form at your permanent residence. You do not have to be a citizen. Anybody who resides at the house where the census form is delivered should be included on that form. An accurate count can do good for our community. It can help us get more services, which means a brighter future for everyone,” Clayman told the full house at the social.<br /> South Palm Beach residents who have questions can find Clayman and volunteers wearing census T-shirts at Town Hall on Fridays during Bookmobile visits, from 10 a.m. to noon. Additional talks are scheduled to coincide with community events from 2 to 4 p.m. on March 7, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 9, 10 a.m.-noon on March 10 and 10 a.m.-noon on March 12. <br />These events are held at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S. Ocean Blvd., South Palm Beach. For information, call (561) 588-8889. Info for caption: “By March 10, the census forms are rolling out. Fill them out and get them in as fast as you can,” Town Councilman Donald Clayman told his audience, while giving out handouts covering census information and questions most frequently asked, as well as T-shirts that read, “United States Census 2010. It’s in our hands.”<br /><br /></div>