Questions remain bout the population numbers in Center County after the 2020 census, as Gary Sinderson reports, State College Borough and county government are still studying whether a
recount is possible.
With the census being conducted in the early days of the pandemic back in 2020, there’s been ongoing talk of a population undercount, especially in college towns like State College or
Penn State went to remote classes in the Spring of that year.
Sending close to 40,000 University Park campus students elsewhere, Centre County administrators have also been looking at the issue.
Census numbers are an important factor in a wide variety of issues, including the allocation amounts for government funding and services.
But getting the Census Bureau to do an actual recount can be difficult.
“The Commerce Department just released sort of their FAQ in the process for we actually have until June, I believe, of 2023 to look, you know, to request one.
It’s a very technical process in terms of it’s not where they just say, OK, we’re going to start from scratch and do another do another census. It’s a very technical.
There has to be a determination of a missing count, a neighborhood that wasn’t counted and you have to have a high level of proof.”
“Looking back to 2010, the success of the re-canvass that occurred that it was very, very quote unquote unsuccessful”
Borough officials say they are committed to exploring the census recount options. They feel the borough’s census results reflect an under count of at least 4000 residents
