Georgetown population may reach 50,000

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Estimates show that Georgetown may have already surpassed the 50,000 population mark, 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 speculation is 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.

If Georgetown reaches the 50,000 population mark, the city can make its own decisions about federal grants for projects to serve low-income residents, get an automatic seat on the board for the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and expand its extra-territorial jurisdiction from 2 to 3.5 miles.

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

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.