City plans income survery

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The city of Seymour plans to conduct an income survey this spring to gather information on how much money residents make.

Results could help the city obtain grant money in the future for projects to benefit the community, said Trena Carter, manager of municipal programs with Administrative Resources association.

Board of works members approved a contract this past week with Key Research and Analysis Inc. to develop and implement the survey. It is based on the American Community Survey, an ongoing gathering of statistical information by the U.S. Census Bureau to help officials and leaders understand changes taking place in their communities.

The contract is not to exceed $4,750.

The last income survey done in Seymour was in 2009, Carter said.

“Results of that survey were that the city of Seymour overall was 54 percent low to moderate income,” she said.

There is a good likelihood that updated results will again show that more than 51 percent of the community remains low to moderate income, which is the requirement to be eligible for the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant program.

Those grants are available to communities for a variety of projects, including downtown revitalization, long-term planning, improving public facilities, stormwater management, sewer infrastructure, comprehensive business and industrial site redevelopment, urgent needs and training for public officials.

The city must provide a listing of telephone numbers for Key Research and Analysis to use in the survey, but all information is kept confidential and is compiled and released as overall results for the city, Carter said.

Not all residents will be called on to participate, as the survey represents a random sampling of Seymour’s population, Carter said.

She expects the list to be completed by the end of March and calls to start being made in April.

She encourages anyone who receives a call to participate in the survey, as it could help improve the community.

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