By Ron Goodman 

Did you know that Niwot’s population has nearly doubled in 10 years? The population in 1990 was 2,666; as of 2000 it now tops out at 4,160, a 56 percent increase. In Gunbarrel the increase was only 0.5 percent, a mere 47 more souls for a total population of 9,435. These figures are from the official 2000 census data.

Boulder County in-creased a significant 23.9 percent, from 225,339 to its present population of 291,288. The Latino population increased 100 percent, jumping from 15,195 to 30,456. "Census data," according to Jana Mendez, Boulder County Commissioner, "will be especially useful in analyzing human services programming because it helps us to identify areas of changing needs and plan accordingly."

Historically, the Latino community has been undercounted in the census. In January 2000 the commissioners asked their staff to organize a countywide outreach effort aimed at reaching Latinos and other groups. The outreach effort included the Latino and Hmong (Vietnamese) communities, cities and towns, public and private human service agencies, school districts, C.U. Boulder and finally the business and faith communities. The Census Bureau recognized Boulder County for this unusual census outreach effort.

"This [Latino] increase is very significant." according to Commissioner Ron Stewart, "It is more important than ever that Latinos have a strong voice in local issues affecting them."

It is estimated that $46.6 million in federal funding came into Boulder County in 2000, based on population and the Census Bureau’s formula of $165 of federal money per capita. In addition, hundreds of local public and private entities receive federal funding, based in part on census data.