One Brookhaven community was left out of the 2020 U.S. Census, a mistake that has now been corrected due to the intervention of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).
The census kicked off three months after LaVista Park was annexed into the city of Brookhaven, but an administrative error led to 1,182 residents being counted as part of unincorporated DeKalb County.
An accurate population count has an impact on the distribution of local and federal funding.
“Multiple federal formula streams, state appropriations, and even the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), are based on population formulas. An additional 1,200 people credited to Brookhaven can equate to over $10 million in various funding streams over a 10-year period,” said Brookhaven Director of Strategic Partnerships Patty Hansen.
Brookhaven city staff filed the error when census data was released in 2021, which stalled due to an overwhelming number of petitions.
Enter Ossoff.
In a letter to U.S. Census Director Robert L. Santos, Ossoff wrote, “A corrected U.S. Census count is necessary…[to] ensure this tax revenue is available to the citizens of Brookhaven to fund critical local priorities, such as transportation and public safety projects.”
Census takers were challenged with the population count during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic amid widespread quarantines, closures and social distancing.
“The entirety of this undercount is in a chronically neglected area in my district,” said District 4 City Council member John Funny. “Since the citizen-driven annexation, Brookhaven has delivered on a promise of public investment. It is gratifying that our Senator is fighting hard on the federal level to ensure we are able to amplify that investment for our citizens.”
