If authorized by the Mayor and Council, city staff could engage in the formal process to challenge census data. The Census Count Question Resolution Operation (CQR) would involve the city forwarding the evidence it has to challenge the tally of housing units and group quarters. While city staff found the total population of Rockville also appears to have been undercounted, there is not a formal process through which that number can be challenged, the report notes. For that reason, the city would be focused only on challenging the counts of housing units, and group quarters population.
The 2020 Census shows Rockville as having 27,953 housing units and a group quarters population of 951, for a total of 28,904 in the City of Rockville as of April 1, 2020. The Census shows Rockville's total population as 67,117. By contrast, the city's own data show 30,031 housing units and group quarters, and a total population of 70,620 as of December 2021. City records show approximately 350 new housing units becoming available for occupancy within city limits between April 1, 2020 and December 2021.
Any error acknowledgement from the U.S. Census Bureau would be issued by September 2023. The totals would not be corrected in the 2020 Census itself. Instead, they would be updated in the base data sets that are used for budget and resource allocations by Congress and federal agencies.
“The award recognizes the competence of the city’s water plant operators and their desire to go beyond regulatory standards to achieve the highest water quality for Rockville’s water customers,” Rockville Director of Public Works Craig L. Simoneau wrote in a letter introducing the report. “This requires considerable effort by the operational staff of the water plant. It is the staff’s expertise, dedication and passion that make this award possible.”
That dedication was tested this past year, as employees at the plant were forced to relocate their workspaces to corridors and other confined spaces at the facility. This was to allow for major plant upgrades, while keeping safe drinking water flowing through city pipes uninterrupted around the clock. That work is expected to be completed by early 2023.
These employees play among the most important roles in the city, even as they work at a site near the Potomac River where few residents will likely ever see them. The City of Rockville provides clean drinking water to 70% of the city, totaling 13,000 billed accounts and 52,000 members of the community. WSSC serves the remainder of the city's residents and businesses.
