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Wood County joins Census New Construction program

PARKERSBURG — Wood County is participating in a program aimed at ensuring the most accurate returns for the 2020 U.S. Census.

County commissioners agreed Thursday to join in the Census Bureau’s New Construction Program, according to a press release from Pam Brust, Wood County courts coordinator and point person for the county’s Census preparation. That allows entities such as counties, cities and townships to provide addresses for housing units under construction on or after March 1, 2018, and expected to be completed by April 1, 2020, the date for which people will record information when filling out the population survey.

Wood County Assessor David Nohe and Chief Deputy Andy Hartleben will serve as the liaisons for the program.

“The assessor’s office is the logical contact for this project since the field deputies are in the best position to have access to new construction information,” Brust said in the release.

Hartleben said the office utilized construction permit data to identify 134 permits issued between March 1, 2018, and May 15, 2019 — 89 for new houses, 39 for mobile homes and six for modular homes.

“It’s not a hard task for us,” he said.

According to information from the Census Bureau, participating in the program helps assure the most accurate population count. Census data is used to help distribute more than $675 billion in federal funds for infrastructure, programs and services.

“We want to make sure everyone is counted so the Census Bureau has correct and the most up-to-date information,” Commission President Blair Couch said in the release.

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