Census shifts prisoners to Beacon

Fishkill loses 2,256 in population

By Elizabeth Lynch
Poughkeepsie Journal

Census officials have moved 2,256 prisoners from Fishkill to Beacon.

The change leaves the Town of Fishkill with practically no population change in the last decade.

''That can't be true,'' town Supervisor Joan Pagones said. ''We had growth. We had tremendous growth.''

As part of its internal review, the Census Bureau determined there was a coding error. In this case, Fishkill Correctional Facility was incorrectly coded to the wrong census block -- being in the Town of Fishkill instead of the City of Beacon.

The error was found several months ago, a census official said. But Beacon and Fishkill were notified of their new population counts in a Feb. 5 letter from the Census Bureau.

The change drops Fishkill's population to 17,993, an increase of about 335 people or 2 percent over 1990, instead of the 15 percent increase in the original census count.

Dutchess unchanged

Beacon's new population is 16,073, a 21 percent increase over 1990, instead of the 4 percent increase previously reported. The changes do not affect Dutchess County's total population.

Beacon Mayor Clara Lou Gould said she spoke with officials at Fishkill Correctional Facility, a medium security state prison for men, and that the prison's population was about 2,200 inmates in 2000.

''The buildings are in Beacon. They have been there all along,'' Gould said. ''Maybe we can get more highway money.''

The new population counts can be used by towns when they apply for federal grants. In theory, towns with greater population growth may qualify for more funding.

''I'm not really happy about this,'' Pagones said. ''There has to be wrong information somewhere and we'll take action to see what we can do about getting it looked at.''

While the change was initiated by the Census Bureau, town officials can challenge the census determination, said Bob Rinaldi, manager of the U.S. Census Bureau's Count Question Resolution program.

But the town would have to provide an analysis of its housing units and argue the census didn't simply miscount, but that it overlooked new buildings in the town, he said.