The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

City receives last payment of funds lost in census miscount

Phil Beckman

Daily Egyptian

Murphysboro Mayor Ron Williams hand-delivered a check for more than $416,000 Monday to the city of Carbondale as the final part of a long process to recover funds lost because of a population miscount in the 2000 Census.

"In terms of the major count Σ there was closure on that part," said Carbondale City Manager Jeff Doherty.

But the city is still waiting for the U.S. Census Bureau to take action on two outstanding appeals to the 2000 Census, Doherty said.

The problem began with data entry errors during the 2000 Census that placed 4,382 SIUC students living in dorms in Murphysboro. The census figures released on March 15, 2001, reported a population of 20,681. The city appealed the count to the bureau through the Count Question Resolution Program on in July 2001. After reviewing the data, the bureau revised the city's population in May 2002 to 25,033.

Because state tax revenue is disbursed to local governments according to population, Carbondale was set to lose money during the appeals process. The city sued the state to have money it would have received if the population figures had been correct placed in an escrow account until the appeals process could be completed.

The Jackson County Circuit Court ruled in favor of Carbondale on July 17, 2001. The state complied with the ruling while it pursued an appeal. On July 10, 2002, an appeals court ruled against the city.

The same day the state proposed an agreement to bring the conflict to a close. The agreement offered to have the Illinois Department of Revenue pay the city $2,691 and the Department of Transportation pay $854. The agreement would also have Murphysboro, which had received more state funds based on the inflated census figures, pay the city more than $416,000. Carbondale was required to agree not to pursue any further financial claims against the state or Murphysboro.

Reporter Phil Beckman can be reached at

pbeckman@dailyegyptian.com

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