The village’s population has increased by 38 percent since 1990 and has crossed the 50,000 mark, village officials said, thus making it eligible for more than a million dollars in additional state and federal funding.
A special census conducted this fall has determined that the village’s official population is now 57,066, an increase of 15,709 over the 1990 figure, village officials said.
“It was a Christmas present to all the residents of Palatine,” said Mayor Rita Mullins. “We’re a much bigger happy family.”
Palatine has been going through an aggressive annexation camapign in order to reach the 50,000 mark. The village now is about 12.5 square miles in area, and was about 8 or 9 in 1990, village manager Michael Kadlecik said.
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The new population figure, which was confirmed Monday, should bring in about $1.5 million a year more in state shared revenues such as income and motor fuel taxes, starting this month. The village receives $95 per person from these sources.
The increased population also makes Palatine an entitlement community eligible to apply directly for federal block grants, village officials said.
The special census cost the village about $40,000, Kadlecik said.