CLAY COUNTY – The U.S. Census was delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and results recently released showed the impacts on municipalities.

Clay County has four municipalities: Green Cove Springs and Keystone Heights, which are cities, as well as the towns of Orange Park and Penney Farms.

Green Cove Springs saw a 30% population boom from 6,908 people counted in 2010 to 9,786 people in the 2020 count. Orange Park increased from 8,412 people in 2010 to 9,089 in 2020. The two smaller municipalities, Penney Farms and Keystone Heights, also witnessed increases from 749 to 821 people and 1,350 to 1,446 people, respectively.

Green Cove Springs City Manager Steve Kennedy said the city fared well from the census and it matched the city’s expectation for growth that occurred and the growth on the way. The city is already looking at outcomes for the 2030 census, he said.

“With pending annexations and development in the works, we will see significant growth in the next 10 years, which will be reflected in the next census,” he said.

The census was conducted amid a pandemic, but Kennedy felt the city wasn’t undercounted.

“Many residents that normally may have been at work and not at home were likely working from home due to the pandemic,” Kennedy said. “This could have been a benefit to the city.”

Orange Park Town Manager Sarah Campbell told council members earlier this month the census figures had mixed results. While the town grew by 8%, it is no longer the largest municipality in the county. That meant the town’s seat on a county-wide board changed and it impacted funding, she said.

The Tourist Development Council seat, held by town Mayor Randy Anderson for another two years, will be ceded to Green Cove Springs. Orange Park will share one TDC seat with Penney Farms and Keystone Heights in a four-year rotation.

“You won’t get a seat on the TDC for another 10 years,” Campbell said.

The share of sales tax for the town will also decrease. The town of Orange Park’s allocation is based on a percentage of population compared to the county’s entire population.

“Because our percentage of the whole has gone down, your sales tax is going to go down,” Campbell said. “Finance (staff) and I will account for that in the capital improvement budget later this spring.”

Campbell said the town has 2,300 people per square mile, which is roughly twice Jacksonville’s density and more tightly packed than other local municipalities’ densities.

“We’re a lot different than some of these places we’re comparing ourselves to,” Campbell said.