(The Center Square) – A report released by the nonprofit Florida TaxWatch says an undercount of Florida residents during the 2020 Census could result in less federal highway funds for the state.
For the Florida Department of Transportation, $92.53 billion in federal funds for fiscal year 2021 were affected by the census count.
According to the report, Florida was one of six states with a statistically significant census undercount. For the Sunshine State, that added up to 750,000 residents or 3.48% of its total population. That data came from the Florida Data Science for Social Good at the University of North Florida.
The U.S. Census count is used for two purposes: to apportion Congressional seats and allocate federal funding for more than 350 programs. According to the report, the undercount cost the state at least one and possibly two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and could result in the loss of up to $21 billion in federal funding through the end of the decade.
Florida TaxWatch executive vice president and general counsel Jeff Kottkamp said that transportation projects comprise 13% of the state’s budget and are a big-ticket item for Florida taxpayers.
“As the state aims to budget adequate funding for transportation projects, an accurate census count is essential to draw down federal dollars that rightfully belong to the state of Florida,” Kottkamp said.
Florida TaxWatch used two grant programs, the Surface Transportation Block Grant and the Urbanized Area Formula Grant, for its analysis. In 2024, the state received $718.3 million from the STBG program, with $616.4 million available for allocations statewide. The state is able to appropriate 45% of those funds ($277.4 million), while the remainder ($339 million) is distributed by population.
The group highlighted one area where even a smaller undercount could have a large impact on federal funding, especially with the Urbanized Area Formula Grant program.
The Port Charlotte-North Port metropolitan area had a count in the census of 199,998, a 2.1% undercount from the adjusted population of 204,251.
While that isn’t a significant figure, greater allocations of federal funds are available ($273 million vs. $23 million) for urbanized areas with populations greater than 200,000 residents. The area could’ve received $3 million in federal grants for transportation projects, but would’ve forfeited funds for smaller urban areas.
The report also said that the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area, which includes Broward and Miami-Dade counties, was undercounted by 4.87% and 7% respectively. The report says federal funding for this urbanized area increased by 20.4% because its population growth outpaced others nationally in its population tier.
The authors say the area still received fewer funds than its population would’ve warranted if the undercounting was reduced.
