With the return of folks from Thanksgiving break comes more information on our recent report about the apparent lack of growth in Canby’s population.
According to Dr. Huda Alkitkat, the population estimates program manager for the Population Research Center, the population numbers remained the same between 2017 and 2018, not because there was no growth, but rather, because the city did not provide the information the center needed to revise its estimates.
“If a city has not submitted recent data, we hold its population constant to its previously certified estimate,” Dr. Alkitkat says. “This was the case with the city of Canby in 2018.”
She says the center asks city officials each year for the changes in their city’s housing stock and the number of people residing in group facilities. They apply census averages to these numbers and take into account any changes due to annexations to produce each city’s final population estimate.
She says the survey was sent to the city by email on July 6, with a deadline of Aug. 5, but it was never returned.
“We sent four reminders to the city and we called them by phone. Then the city asked for a paper version of the survey instead of email, and we sent it, but still did not receive any response,” Dr. Alkitkat says. “At the end of the day, we sent a letter to the city mayor asking for the completed survey, and stated that if we do not receive the completed survey, we will consider no changes since 2017.”
Reached this afternoon, City Administrator Rick Robinson said he “wasn’t aware that the City had failed to respond timely to PSU staff working on population estimates.”
“I’ve just contacted PSU to try to get additional information so that we can complete any updates they would need,” he added.
There is still time to update Canby’s numbers, as the center does not finalize its 2018 estimates until Dec. 15.
