Langley mounts census recount

"Contending that a population undercount by the United States Census Bureau will cost Langley thousands of dollars in planning money and general fund revenue, Mayor Lloyd Furman said the city will recount its people.In 2000, the Census Bureau counted 959 people within Langley's city limits. When the numbers became public last April, city administrators said the count wasn't even close.There's a 95-percent chance they're wrong, Furman said.At the time, Furman said the city would not challenge the census count. Since then, he said, he and city staff have totalled the amount of state grant money the city could lose over the next few years due to the undercount. The total, close to $9,000 a year, was too much to ignore.The biggest loss would come in the area of state planning grants. Cities with more than 1,000 people can receive up to $10,000 a year in such grants. Cities with fewer than 1,000 people can receive no more than $5,000, Furman said. The city is now searching for a private firm to recount Langley's people. Furman said he does not know how much the job will cost, nor who will do it, but he said he definitely will not be inviting the Census Bureau back to do the recount.Washington's Office of Financial Management estimated the city's population to be 1,115 in 2000, 156 more than the Census count. Langley's own utility billing records also indicate the city's population is higher than the Census count, Furman said. "

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