Elbert County Population Lower Since 2010 Census

By David Stephens, WSGC Radio, Elberton

Elbert County’s population is in decline.

That’s according to numbers recently put out by the U.S. Census Bureau, which, in its 2013 population estimates noted the county had a population of 19,599 – down from 20,166 in 2010 when the last U.S. Census was taken.

Elbert County Administrator Bob Thomas says the loss in population hurts the county’s sales tax revenue.

And that, he said, has an adverse affect on local projects.

“What that means is that the projects that we have projected to complete, we are going to have to go back in and downsize those projects or do without some of those projects all together”, said Thomas.

Thomas said the lost of SPLOST revenue means the county is looking to increase property taxes by a half mil to make up the difference.

He says trying to keep the younger portion of the population around the county is also very important.

With more young people leaving to find jobs elsewhere, Thomas said they are actively working to bring more industry in.

“Once they get through their education whether it be technical college or a four year college, that there will be some jobs for them to come back to”, said Thomas. “So that is one way to stop the trend from the decreasing population.”

Meantime, neighboring Wilkes County has also seen its population drop from 10,539 in 2010 to 10,010 in 2013’s census estimates.