City Questions State Population Estimate

City-County Planning - Oct. 24, 2007
Contact: Paul Norby, 747-7061

City officials will ask the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management to reconsider the city’s July 1, 2007 population. Winston-Salem planning officials estimate a current population of 222,682; however, state officials show a certified figure of 201,955.

In July, a member of the City-County Planning staff turned in to the state a population count that erroneously did not include the 20,727 citizens that were annexed into the city on September 30, 2006. City Manager Lee Garrity has acknowledged the mistake and is asking the state to recertify the population number with this correction. Certified population estimates are used by the state to calculate the distribution of gasoline, beer and wine taxes to local governments.

Garrity has also directed the city’s internal auditor to review all procedures involving state-shared revenues and population estimates to ensure that written checklists are in place to prevent such errors in the future.