The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

March 15, 2010

Census forms arriving

Official: Residents should ignore address typo

By Joe Pinchot

With Census forms arriving any day now, a Mercer County official urged residents to fill out the forms and send them back, and not to take it as a slight if the envelopes containing the forms are improperly addressed.

Hermitage residents received letters informing them that the Census forms were coming, but the letters carried Sharon addresses instead of Hermitage addresses. The street addresses and zip codes were correct.

“Why they did that, I don’t know,” said Daniel Gracenin, executive director of Mercer County Regional Planning Commission.

Hermitage city officials have been in touch with Census officials and were assured the incorrect city listed on the addresses was simply a mailing quirk, not an indication that the residents are believed to live in Sharon, he said.

Messages left for Hermitage City Manager Gary P. Hinkson were not returned.

Gracenin, who lives in Hermitage, said he had no reason not to accept that explanation, but added that he wants to see the actual Census forms and how municipality of residence will be verified.

“We want to keep close tabs on it, certainly,” he said.

Gracenin noted that many municipalities in Mercer County have multiple zip codes or mailing address cities. Jefferson Township residents have addresses of Sharpsville, Hermitage or Mercer, for instance.

“I do not believe they use zip codes as the identifier,” he said of Census officials.

In the past, Census forms asked residents to state the municipality they live in, he said.

The planning commission is the point agency for Census matters, on behalf of the county. Gracenin said it is important that as accurate a count as possible is conducted because federal and state funding and congressional seats are based on Census data.

“It could be the difference between getting funded and not getting funded,” Gracenin said. “We want to make sure we get a 100 percent total tally, if we can.”

In the 2000 Census, Mercer County lost its designation as a Census statistical metropolitan area, and was lumped in with Mahoning and Trumbull counties for concerns such as transportation funding. That required local officials to jump through more hoops to secure funding.

Mercer County has slowly been losing people since 1980, when the Census counted 128,299. That number fell to 121,003 in 1990 and 120,293 in 2000. The population has hovered around 116,000 in recent Census estimates and Gracenin said he expects it likely to will come in around there.

However, he said, the last estimate was released prior to the worst of the economic downturn.

“It definitely has me concerned,” Gracenin said.

Gracenin said he also expects that Hermitage will supplant Sharon as the most populous municipality in Mercer County, something that Census estimates show has been the case for some time.

Sharon recorded 16,328 citizens in 2000, with Hermitage coming in at 16,157.

Gracenin said he does not know of any practical impact a change in the most populous municipality would have. Sharon is a direct entitlement community for purposes of Community Development Black Grant funding, meaning it gets its money from the federal government instead of the state acting as an intermediary. That arrangement likely will remain even if Hermitage is deemed the most populous municipality, Gracenin said.

“Sharon is basically considered central city,” he said.

Hermitage could be more recognized in other ways, such as by map makers, Gracenin said.

“I don’t think anybody should look at that as bragging rights,” he said of which municipality has the most people. A county decrease in population hurts all municipalities.

“I don’t think it’s in anybody’s interest to see one of the other communities shrink.”

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