State Approves Population Appeal

City-County Planning Department - Nov. 27, 2007
Contact: Paul Norby, 747-7061

State Budget Director David T. McCoy has approved the city’s appeal of an erroneous population estimate and directed the Office of State Budget and Management to recertify the city’s population to include the 20,727 people annexed into the city on Sept. 30, 2006.

McCoy’s decision, conveyed to City Manager Lee Garrity in a letter dated Nov. 21, allows the city to recoup money it would have otherwise lost in the distribution of gasoline, beer and wine taxes to local governments, all of which are based on population.

In July, a member of the City-County Planning staff erroneously left out information about the September 2006 annexation on a state population form. As a result, the state estimated the city’s population at 201,955, rather than the 222,682 it should have been after the annexation. Because of the lower population estimate, the city did not receive $496,800 in gasoline taxes distributed in October and stood to lose an estimated $90,160 in beer and wine taxes yet to be distributed.

City Manager Lee Garrity acknowledged the mistake and appealed for a recertification, which would make the city eligible for a distribution from a $500,000 contingency fund for correcting allocation errors in gasoline taxes. McCoy’s letter does not say how much the city will receive from the contingency fund.

In accepting the city’s appeal, McCoy noted that in September 2006 City-County Planning Director Paul Norby told the state about the annexation and its estimated population. McCoy also noted that a letter sent Aug. 31, 2007, from the state led the city to believe there was not a problem.

In the wake of the erroneous certification, Garrity 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.