GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Several Middle Tennessee communities are holding a special count to reflect their growing population right now.
Gallatin has just about two weeks left in their special census period.
Kelley Carpenter leads a group of folks working on that special census right now.
According to city leaders, the 2020 population of Gallatin was around 44,000.
Just five years later, they believe its more than 50,000.
The state collects taxes from Tennesseeans, and some of it gets returned to the cities where they live, but only if they're counted in the census.
"The money is there, it's sitting there, if people are counted, the city gets the money," Carpenter said.
The census has been underway since last summer.
"It's kind of surreal, like considering that I started this back in September, and now we're in February, just about done," said Joshua Brimm, a census worker.
For each person that gets counted, the city will receive about $175.
The City of Gallatin's Jenna Landstrom explains where that money comes from.
"Sales tax, alcohol tax, vehicle registration tax, they kind of have a pot of money that they allocate for cities across the state," said Jenna Landstrom, tourism and marketing director for Gallatin.
Right now, the special census has counted more than 46,000 people in Gallatin, and there's still more to be counted.
"That additional almost 2,000 people is an additional approximately $350,000 to our city," Landstrom said.
According to Landstrom, there are many different potential uses for the funding.
"We want to put it toward things that people in the Gallatin community will notice. So updating our parks, and helping more with our public safety, giving them different equipment and things that they've requested over the years, but we might not have had the money for," Landstrom said.
For more information on how to be counted in the Gallatin special census, click here.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
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