Aurora outlines special census push aimed at reversing undercount, seeks hires and public cooperation

Shannon Cameron, Aurora’s chief of staff, told the Committee of the Whole on June 2 that the city is launching a special census focused on new construction and residential growth since 2020 to correct an apparent undercount.

"We felt like we were undercounted as a municipality by at least 17,000," Cameron said, adding that the shortfall produced an "annual revenue loss of about $4.3 million" when measured against typical federal and state funding formulas. Cameron said the city’s prior estimate of lost annual revenue converts to roughly $43 million across a 10‑year period.

The special census effort centers on a map of contiguous census tracts that prioritize new developments and areas of residential growth. City staff said they will mail four materials to each household in target tracts (two letters and two postcards, each carrying a unique access code) at the end of July; households that receive the mailers can register online using their unique code. Cameron urged residents to keep the code and respond online because internet self‑response reduces the need for costly in‑person follow‑up and door‑knocking by federal enumerators.

"Those mailings are a code. That code is unique to that household. That code is very important," Cameron said. "We want to push to everyone in the public if they receive that in the mail to log on and be counted right away." The city’s internet self‑response window runs through Aug. 24, after which door‑to‑door enumeration by federal staff is expected.

Cameron outlined an immediate hiring push: the city is recruiting a special census supervisor, four field supervisors, three clerical staff and roughly 22 field representatives — the people who will do outreach and, if necessary, follow up in person. She said the federal regional office encourages hiring workers who live in or near target zip codes so field staff are familiar with neighborhoods.

The city has already run hiring fairs and planned more; Cameron said about 100 people have attended job fairs so far and the city needs roughly 30 solid hires but expects to recruit a larger pool to offset attrition. She said federal census personnel will be stationed locally starting July 24 and that the internet response period and other steps will take the program through the fall.

On costs and projected returns, councilmembers asked whether the special census will pay for itself. Finance staff previously estimated a modest return in earlier planning: an additional 1,500 residents could yield about $375,000 in annual funding, Cameron said, while other figures discussed during the meeting ranged higher. She and finance staff cautioned that the Census Bureau warns against relying on firm projections because occupancy and timing remain uncertain.

Council members pressed for clarity on the program’s cost. Cameron said the city’s current planning-level cost is roughly $580,000 to run the special census effort, and that officials hope to recoup the investment over time through increased formula funding tied to population counts.

Why it matters: an accurate count affects formula distributions for infrastructure, public safety, grant eligibility and many federal and state funding streams that local agencies and nonprofits use to operate programs. Cameron said the city will produce printed and digital outreach materials for aldermen and community partners in mid‑June so elected officials can help spread the word in their wards.

Next steps: staff is completing the census map and recruitment, the city will mail unique household codes to the target tracts in late July, the internet self‑response period closes Aug. 24, and field operations and enumeration will follow with the aim of concluding core activities by late November. City officials said they will continue to report progress to the council and provide requested budget and program detail upon further vetting.