2020 census could mean $ 40 million for Butler County: how it works

Data from the 2020 U.S. Census was recently released, and with 22,227 new residents, Butler County could mean an additional $ 40 million in new state and federal funding to help social service programs, roads and local governments. , according to Newspaper.

The rule of thumb is that each person counted equals about $ 1,800 in state and federal funding for things like Medicaid, food stamps, roads, and other programs supported by outside sources.

Butler County Development Director David Fehr said residents will reap the rewards as new funding levels for the next 10 years will be based on a population of 390,357. He said a $ 40 million funding increase “spread across all the different federal federal programs does not appear unreasonable.”

The county as a whole is up 6% from the 368,130 enumerated in 2010.

“From a community development perspective and a barometer of being a prime location for residents and businesses, the population increase of just under 25,000 is a metric that shows we are doing well in the performance of the preferred place to live or have your business. It is a wonderful testimony to Butler County, ”said County Administrator Judi Boyko.

“From a financial perspective, of course, increased funding from any source should be seen as a giveaway, however, many times funding sources from other levels of government include increased regulations. , increased restrictions. So if we get $ 40 million but have to spend $ 50 million, then maybe this financial equation is not to the benefit of the county. “

A concrete source of funding that is directly linked to the population is the funding of local government authorities. Butler County and its various jurisdictions received $ 7.7 million this year and these allocations will be adjusted based on population changes.

Liberty Twp. saw the largest population jump with 6,740 new residents counted, bringing the new total to 43,999, so that’s $ 499,807 the allocation from the Local Governments Fund is likely to change. Canton of Sainte-Claire. lost 237 residents, bringing its number to 6,671 people. The township only received $ 61,909 from the state this year, so the loss may not be significant.

Mike Stein, head of tax accounting for the county auditor’s office, said preliminary raw data from the census bureau does not take into account some overlapping boundaries between cities, towns and townships, so simple calculations cannot be applied.

For example, the data the Journal-News retrieved from the census bureau showed Lemon Twp. has 16,885 residents and Oxford Twp. 25,469. Fehr said the towns of Monroe and Oxford should be removed from these townships, bringing the actual number to 1,476 and 2,434 respectively for the townships.

Stein said they will need more data to understand how local government funding will be impacted.

“We will need all the final census numbers, including small villages and townships, as well as the census numbers of overlapping taxing entities,” Stein said. “Once we have those numbers, we’ll take the amount designated for Butler County in the state of Ohio and allocate those dollars based on (the formula needed).”

Liberty Twp. is the county’s fastest growing jurisdiction in years, and it has grown 18.1% over the past decade and accounts for 30% of the county’s growth as a whole. Board chairman Tom Farrell said the township was only half built and “responsible” growth was key.

“Our goal and goal for responsible growth is to make sure we have the right mix of businesses and residences so that our residential taxpayers don’t have to pay increased taxes,” said Farrell. “It’s not a bad thing to be a dormitory town, not a bad word, but in general, the dormitory towns are subject to very, very high taxes because the residents cost money. money, business brings money to the cantons. “

To this end, the directors of Liberty have made a new Millikin Road interchange a top priority. There are approximately 700 undeveloped acres slated for commercial development in the Millikin Road area, and the intersection and extension of Cox Road to Ohio 63 would open better access to 1,200 acres – which would contain the equivalent of 12 Liberty Centers.

With the new West Chester Twp count. became the county’s largest jurisdiction with 64,830 residents, overtaking the city of Hamilton by 1,431 people, the township gained 3,872 new residents. Township CFO Ken Keim said from an economic perspective, the township’s population growth will have very little direct effect, but there are a multitude of indirect impacts.

“These people are going to need EMT shopping and police protection and all the economic stuff, eating out in restaurants and what happens to property values,” Keim said. “Directly it’s not going to be much, indirectly it’s going to be a mixed bag, there are going to be givers and takers.”

Keim also noted that the population has had a big impact recently, as all of the millions of coronavirus relief funds that have poured into the county have been split based on population.