The City of Westfield will consider a special census in 2025, hoping to capture population-based tax dollars that the city may be missing with the current census numbers.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Westfield’s total population following the 2020 decennial census was 46,410. However, a population estimate conducted by the bureau in 2023 estimated the population had grown to more than 57,000.

Deputy Mayor Danielle Carey-Tolan introduced an ordinance to the city council Sept. 9 for the city to appropriate $1.8 million to activate a special census.

“The important thing about this, is that in doing the special census we will recoup our $1.8 million within about 18 months,” Carey-Tolan said. “In total we will gain about $9.6 million knowing that our population is much higher than what our current census is telling us.”

Recouping those funds will come by capturing certain taxes, such as road taxes and cigarette taxes, that are population driven.

“What we’ve done is calculated those current rates at the current population, multiplied it by what we believe the (variable) is and that is how we come up with the number set of where we believe we are going to be and the dollars we will receive once the census is certified (in) December of next year,” Westfield Director of Enterprise Development John Rogers said.

During a public hearing, Westfield resident Linda Naas asked the council to do their due diligence to make sure those tax dollars potentially recouped by the city would reach the levels anticipated.

The census would be conducted in spring and summer 2025. The city will engage in a public awareness campaign to ensure residents participate in order to reach the most accurate outcome.

The city council is expected to vote on the appropriation later this month.