County estimated to have grown by leaps and bounds

Will Heath
March 26, 2010

St. Clair County is bucking a statewide trend, according to estimates recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those estimates — released Tuesday on the bureau’s Web site — show the county’s population has grown by more than 26 percent since the last Census in 2000. At that time, St. Clair had a population of nearly 65,000 — the most recent estimates say the county’s population is now close to 82,000 people.

The 26.5 growth rate is third best in the state, trailing only Baldwin County (28.1) and Shelby County (34.4).

“The Census is a flawed system … but we are still growing,” County Commission chairman Stan Batemon said. “That’s good news in some ways but it also carries a lot of challenges with it.”

According to a release from the Census Bureau, estimates are based on 2000 Census data and updated by using administrative records to estimate components of population change (births, deaths, and domestic and international migration). The new estimates are not 2010 Census population counts. They are, however, the last estimates to use 2000 Census results as a base.

St. Clair County’s estimated growth is particularly notable among other counties in the state; nearly half of Alabama’s 67 counties are estimated to have seen negative growth during the same nine-year period.

Batemon and the rest of the St. Clair County Commission recently reviewed the county’s 2010 budget at a work session, where they estimated revenue growth has slowed somewhat. The Census numbers do provide some positive news, according to the chairman.

“We’re still at a growth rate of somewhere around 7-7.5 percent,” Batemon said. “We’ve got counties losing revenue around that (rate) or more.

“As the county grows, that increases the overall collection of the ad valorem taxes. I feel good that will continue to increase, unless this economy becomes a trainwreck for everybody. That tells me St. Clair County and some of the other counties in Alabama are still in a growth mode and are still able to offer the same kind of services we’ve been accustomed to.”

The 2010 Census population totals will be used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. By April 1, 2011, the Census Bureau must release data for counties, cities and other small geographic areas so that states can proceed with redistricting.